The recession has pushed 100,000 more people into poverty here according Social Justice Ireland.

A new report being released by the group today has found three quarters of a million people in the Republic are now living below the poverty line.

Michelle Murphy is their research and policy analyst.

She has said for children forced to live in poverty the impact is life long: “They don’t do as well in the education system as their peers.

“They are less likely to perform at the level of their peers in the labour market so they are not going to get the well paid jobs that their peers might get.

“Their health is usually much worse than that of their peers because they are living in accommodation that is not up to the standard that most of us expect to be living in.”