In 1992, the Irish government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which would lead some to believe that the Irish government is committed to ensuring that every child in Ireland has the best possible chance in life. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case, as every day in Ireland there are thousands of vulnerable children who are unable to meet some of their basic needs. Since 2009, the Alliance for Children's Rights has published an annual report card analyzing the government's progress on key promises to children (Alliance for Children's Rights, n.d.). This year's report card gave the Irish government an F grade for child poverty, highlighting the lack of support the government offers to low-income families. This essay will focus on some of the areas where the Irish Government is failing some of the most vulnerable proportions of the population in relation to child poverty, and will show that child poverty can have a knock-on effect on future generations. It will also examine the areas the Government urgently needs to focus on and review, in order to reduce child poverty in Ireland. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 to recognize the individual rights of vulnerable children and advocate for their protection worldwide. In 1992, Ireland became one of 193 states to sign the Convention, in doing so Ireland demonstrated its commitment to promoting the rights and protection of children in Ireland. Although Ireland has signed the Convention and has made some progress in protecting their nation's children, they have made little effort to ensure that the child... middle of paper... makes progress towards ending child poverty . [Online]Available at: http://www.irishexaminer.com/analysis/lets-take-steps-to-end-child-poverty-230535.html[Accessed 24 11 2013].O'Brien, C. , 2013 The permanent scars of child poverty end up making society poorer. [Online]Available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/child-poverty-s-life-long-scars-end-up-leaving-society-poorer-1.1535132[Accessed on 23 11 2013].Reily, J., 2013. Only three families have returned child benefits to the State. [Online]Available at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/only-tre-families-gave-child-benefit-back-to-state-29226572.html[Accessed 24 11 2013]. Social Justice Ireland, 2013. 733,000 people in poverty indicate a serious failure of government policy. [Online]Available at: http://www.socialjustice.ie/content/733000-people-poverty-points-major-failure-government-policy[Accessed 23 11 2013].