Government pushing people into poverty, says SVP

The Society of the St Vincent de Paul (SVP) today said the Government's budgetary policy was forcing thousands of people to struggle on the margins of Irish society.

The society says it has been forced to increase its spending to assist those in need by over 20 per cent in some areas over the last year. "Help calls" to the SVP's head office alone are up by 94 per cent, it said.

Speaking at the unveiling of its pre-budget submission the charity's vice president, Prof John Monaghan, said "the Government needs to take steps urgently to ensure that those who benefited least during the "Celtic Tiger" period are not further penalised now that things are much tougher for them."

"At the very least" Prof Monaghan added "the Government must keep their earlier commitments to tackle social exclusion made in the National Anti-Poverty Strategy Review, just prior to the last election".

In its submission the SVP called for a weekly increase of €15 to social welfare payments and €14 to non-contributory pensions. It called for increased child support and the removal of all people on the minimum wage from the tax net.

The charity proposes that all under-18s in households headed by adults earing less than €14,000 per annum be given medical cards. They also called on the Government to build at least 6,000 new social housing units.

"It's a clear social and political choice for Government to make," Prof Monaghan said.