The needs of migrant workers and asylum seekers have been ignored in the Government's National Action Plan for Social Inclusion, which runs from this year until 2016, it was claimed yesterday.
The Irish section of the European Anti-Poverty Network, which conducted a series of seminars about the action plan, said it was "disappointing and lacks ambition".
Acting co-ordinator Paul Ginnell said "one of the things that came most clearly out of the seminars was a sense that the needs of migrant workers and asylum seekers have been ignored".
The plan, published in February, includes a commitment to eradicate consistent poverty, and proposals to help foreign-nationals integrate into Irish society. Mr Ginnell said "the introduction of the habitual residency requirement for child benefit, undermining what had previously been a universal entitlement, along with the scandalously low level of direct provision for asylum seekers, were a recurring theme for many working on a daily basis with these people. Yet these issues were absent from the document."
There were also concerns on the lack of childcare supports concerning hiring of staff and training of childcare managers.
