The number of callers to St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has surpassed 250,000 for the first time, rising by10 per cent last year.
A total of 250,198 calls were made to St Vincent de Paul in 2023 compared to 228,301 in 2022 and 191,000 in 2021.
SVP national president Rose McGowan said the rise in numbers show that people are struggling despite the additional cost-of-living payments made by the Government to help with food and energy inflation.
“Our main concern at the moment is the number of households in arrears on their gas bills or those who cannot afford an oil fill,” she said.
“With another cold snap on the way, we are worried this situation will get worse as people try to manage debt and current usage costs.
“It is important to recognise that behind each of these statistics is a person or a family trying to tread water in a sea of rising living costs. The mental toll on people of ongoing financial difficulties, poverty and lack of certainty about the future is to the forefront of our work in communities.”
SVP’s head of justice, Dr Tricia Keilthy, said the figures show that the “cost of living crisis is far from over for people in poverty. Some 875,000 people living in the State experience basic deprivation which means going without essentials such as adequate nutrition, warm clothing and heating.
“Low pay, lack of income supports, rising housing costs and homelessness, unaffordable childcare and lack of transport are just some of the challenges we are facing.”
Government policy can make a difference and there was a fall in September in families looking for help with back to school costs when the free school books scheme was introduced. “We hope to see a similar impact when free books at junior cycle are rolled out,” she said.
The bulk of the calls, just over 90,000 (36 per cent), requested help with food. Energy and utility bills were another area of need with almost 20,000 calls received, while another 33,000 calls were from people struggling with both food and energy costs.
Calls increased at specific times of the year with just over 34,000 from families who needed help at Christmas.
Back to school costs, third level costs, household goods, furniture, clothing, support with health-related costs, issues with mortgages and rent or funeral expenses made up the majority of the remaining 77,000 calls. In the region of 30,000 people sought SVP help for the first time last year.
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