A new report by the Liffey Partnership, Spinning Plates – Addressing Food Poverty in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot, has revealed widespread food poverty in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard where nearly half of residents cannot afford basic meals.
The Liffey Partnership report found that 43% of people surveyed in these communities are living in food poverty. This is five times higher than the national average.
Local People Before Profit Councillor Hazel De Nortúin said “We live in a country of extraordinary wealth, but many in our society cannot even afford basic foods. Almost half of people in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard are regularly missing meals due to a lack of money”.
“In Ireland there are 10 billionaires, there are over 1,400 individuals with wealth of over €47 million, and over 20,000 individuals with wealth over €4.7 million. And yet millions of people in the state regularly miss meals for lack of money”.
“The existence of continuing poverty in Ireland is a policy choice. Successive governments have had more than enough resources to end poverty at a stroke. But Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael make the decision at every budget that poverty should continue”.
“We know from an analysis of Central Bank data that super market profit margins accounted for more than 60% of all price increases between 2020 and 2022, when food inflation surged. Ken Murphy, the chief executive officer of Tesco, doubled his pay packet to £10 million in 2023. This profiteering is why millions cannot afford the food they need”.
“In response to inflation and food poverty, People Before Profit introduced a Bill in the Dáil in 2024 that proposed to establish a Grocery Price Caps Commission to set maximum prices for food items to ensure basic food is affordable for all. Other measures such as raising the minimum wage to at least €15 per hour and raising pension and social welfare benefits to at least €350 per week are the sort of policies that a left Government would implement immediately to end poverty”.
“The existence of poverty in Ireland is a policy choice. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the likes of the Lowry group will never choose to end it. People Before Profit in a left government would”.