DONEGAL has recorded the highest rates of people living on low incomes in the State.

New data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show 25 per cent of people in Donegal had an equivalent net administrative income below the low-income threshold — more than double the rate in County Kildare (11.5 per cent). Within Donegal, the Carndonagh Local Electoral Area recorded the highest rate of low income in the country, highlighting the deepening economic divide across regions.

Donegal Sinn Féin Deputies, Pearse Doherty TD and Pádraig MacLochlainn TD, have said the figures expose the Government’s continued failure to tackle regional inequality and poverty, as Donegal again records the highest rate of people living on low incomes in the State.

Deputy Doherty said: “These figures paint a stark picture of life for too many families and workers in Donegal. In communities right across the county, people are being left behind.

“The fact that one in four people here are living on low incomes is not an accident — it is the direct result of years of government neglect and the lack of any real regional investment strategy.

“Families in Donegal are dealing not only with the cost-of-living crisis, but with the devastation of the defective blocks scandal. Homeowners facing financial ruin because of defective concrete are now shown in these figures to be living in one of the lowest-income areas in the entire State. That’s the human cost of government inaction.

“The Government talks endlessly about growth and recovery, but that’s not the reality in Donegal. Too many households are struggling with low pay, poor access to public services, and non-existent infrastructure.”

Teachta Mac Lochlainn the CSO figures should be a “wake-up call for government.”

“Donegal has borne the brunt of government neglect for far too long — from the Defective Concrete Block crisis to underfunded health and transport services. It’s time for a fair share for Donegal, not more empty promises.”