Social Inclusion Unit

Key roles of the Social Inclusion

Unit includes:

• Assessing the policies of Wicklow Local Authorities with regard to social inclusion.
• Raising awareness among staff on the issues of social inclusion and their priority position within all aspects of future Council policy.
• Evaluating work implementation plans and/or strategies arising from these policies to ensure consistency with the principles of social inclusion.
• To support and assist the work of the County Development Board in respect of the local authority’s role in social inclusion.
• Being proactively involved in community based research on a countywide basis.

What is social inclusion?

• Being aware of society’s most marginalised and vulnerable groups
• Being aware of the needs of these groups
• Endeavour to accommodate the needs of these groups through positive policies and legislation

Ireland’s National Anti-Poverty Strategy 1997-2007 highlights the following marginalised groups as being most at risk of experiencing poverty:

• Unemployed/Low Income groups
• Disabled people
• Lone parents
• Travellers
• Women
• Children
• Young people
• Older people
• Homeless
• Prisoners and ex-prisoners
• Migrants and ethnic minorities
• Urban disadvantaged
• Rural disadvantaged
• Educationally disadvantaged

Some Facts and Figures

In Ireland

• 6.5% of children in consistent poverty
• 5% of all households in consistent poverty
• 16.6% of all family units are lone parent family units (Wicklow=16.2%)
• 5.7% are unemployed (Wicklow=5.6%)
• 8.3% with disabilities (Wicklow=7.7%)