The State's advisory body on tackling poverty has recommended that the Government take steps to provide healthy and affordable food for low-income households.
In its pre-budget submission, Combat Poverty said the cost of putting nutritious and well-balanced meals on the table can account for between 40 per cent and 80 per cent of the weekly income of families on social welfare.
As a result, it called on the Government to provide a €10 million fund to support community initiatives providing alternative sources of healthy food for low-income households. The proposal is based on the success of similar initiatives in the UK and new projects here such as the Southill Food Co-op in Limerick and the Dublin Food Bank.
The submission also calls for the school food programme to be extended to provide daily nutritional school dinners for around 200,000 children from low-income families.
Helen Johnston, director of the Combat Poverty Agency, said: "Parents with two children in receipt of €400 unemployment assistance a week, spend, on the basis of our most recent research, a minimum of €170 of that income on basic, everyday food items such as cereals, bread, potatoes, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish."
She added: "The availability of own-brand products can reduce the cost of these essentials by as much as 15 per cent, which is hugely significant, given the demand to also meet the cost of heating, clothing, transport and education from a weekly budget of €400."
The abolition of the Groceries Order has had no major impact on the cost of a typical food basket, according to Combat Poverty. Much more needed to be done to ensure low-income families reaped the benefit of increased competition in the grocery sector, such as encouraging discount food stores to locate in areas of disadvantage.
"The provision of easily accessible discount stores offering affordable and appropriately sized economy-line foods will have a positive impact in assisting low-income families meet the cost of a healthy diet," Ms Johnston said.
The organisation also calls for increases in welfare payments of up to €20 a week, a €10 increase in child benefit and a €1,000 increase in the early childcare supplement for children aged between three and four. It also calls for an increase in tax credits and in tax bands rather than an overall decrease in the tax rate.