Charities warn of 'substantial human cost' of any cuts to funding in Budget 2020

Charities have warned the Government of the human cost of a “no-deal Brexit” Budget.

The Wheel, the national association of charities, said their spending allocations should be increased to ensure their continued viability and survival.

More than 1,600 members of the Wheel met in Dublin. They are worried they will be targeted in the Government's plans to curb spending in Budget 2020.

A number of charities warned that there could be a “substantial human cost” if spending allocations were not increased in the Budget, and said they were already struggling with rising administrative and insurance costs and funding cuts introduced during the recession.

Director of public policy at The Wheel, Ivan Cooper, said the people who relied on community and voluntary organisations were not abstract figures on a spreadsheet.

“The Government should consider how allocations in Budget 2020 will affect the day-to-day lives of the most vulnerable in society,” he said.

Chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, said the State relied on charities like the DRCC.

Ms Blackwell said the DRCC received about €1.3m from the State but that only covered between 80% and 85% of the cost of the services that it provided.

“With €1.3m in funding we are roughly back to where we were before the recession but we are providing a greater service than we were then," she said.

“So we are constrained and depend very heavily on public fundraising and on trying to raise money elsewhere.

“The State knows we are in partnership with it because we provide essential services on its behalf but the funding we get from the State does not reflect that.”