Communion spending has become too lavish, says Gilmore

The Government is cutting payments meant to assist struggling families with the cost of Communions and Confirmations because spending on such events has become too “lavish”, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said.

The Coalition was accused yesterday of targeting vulnerable families after the Irish Examiner revealed details of the cutbacks.

Speaking in the Dáil, Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald accused Joan Burton, the social protection minister, of waging a “crusade against families on low incomes”.