The country’s oldest food bank expects to break its own record this year in terms of the amount of food it dispenses, while doubling the number of community food initiatives due to unprecedented demand.

Tánaiste Joan Burton has said the Government is "seeking to take an individual case-by-case approach" to people who are not getting sufficient rent supplements to afford the increasing costs in the private rental market.

A new charity has vowed that nobody in Ireland will ever have to go hungry again.

Brendan Dempsey has helped feed thousands of hard-pressed families in the Cork region in his role as vice-president of St Vincent de Paul. Now he’s delighted a dedicated, professional charity is about to take up the strain.

Cork’s first food bank will open next year, with organising group Bia saying the initiative will provide access to tonnes of surplus food that otherwise would go to waste.