SVP spent €75m in 2010 to help the poor
It said calls for help from people struggling with poverty, debt and unemployment almost doubled in the last three years.
As well as providing services, the SVP has provided €16m in cash assistance, over €9m for food, €6.7m on energy and over €4m on education costs.
It also warned those getting help from the charity had no more to give the Government in December’s Budget.
SVP national president Mairead Bushnell said there was palpable worry and uncertainty about the Budget among people on social welfare and low pay.
“People we employ to answer the phones are suffering real stress — from 9am until 5pm they are hearing one story that is worse than another,” she said.
Launching SVP’s pre-Budget submission, Ms Bushnell said the charity knows people in poverty cannot survive any further cuts to incomes and services.
“One-parent families and other households with children, people living alone, migrants and some self-employed are particularly vulnerable,” she said.
Ms Bushnell said it had been a long time since SVP volunteers were in homes where there was not enough food, clothes or shoes.
“We dealt with that in the late 1970s and early 1980s and thought it was gone forever. It’s back,” she said.
In 2009, SVP spent €66.6m on direct assistance and in providing services.
The charity will launch its annual appeal on November 21 and is hoping that contributions will be similar to 2010.
Nearly two thirds of SVP’s income comes directly from public donations. The remainder comes from its shops and other services.
The SVP said it supported measures to curb social welfare fraud, but that its work with individuals and families indicated it was not a widespread problem.
It has found the complicated nature of the social welfare system results in anomalies, delays and barriers for individuals and families trying to access payments.
