THE latest report by Save the Children, shows 35% of children in West Tyrone live in poverty, an unenviable statistic second only to Foyle with a level of 36%.

West Tyrone MLA Claire McGill, Sinn Féin spokesperson on poverty issues and member of the Assembly's Social Development Committee said, "In relative terms, child poverty levels in the six counties are disproportionately higher than they are in Britain, with children in the Foyle and West Tyrone constituencies at the top of the child poverty league.

"Child poverty indicators not only include material deprivation but also deprivation in terms of health and educational opportunities," she said.

"The areas where levels of child povert are greatest are a mirror reflection of the areas of the greatest multi-deprivation in the six counties and the issue of child poverty cannot be tackled in isolation without tackling the structural inequality that has historically and continues to exist in the six counties and border counties.

"We are determined that Sinn Fein's Equality Agenda is brought to the very heart of the decision-making process within all of the re-established institutions, including the All-Ireland institutions.

"The legacy of inequality in this part of Ireland has once again been highlighted through these Child Poverty statistics and inequality can only be addressed if Targeting Social Need becomes the primary statutory obligation of government north and south and not merely an issue that has to be merely considered as part of wider decision making processes," said Ms McGill.