Calls to St Vincent de Paul have almost doubled in recent months as families struggle to cope with day-to-day increases in the cost of living, the charity has said.
Ms Columba Faulkner, national secretary of the charity, told ireland.comcalls to the Dublin headquarters had almost doubled in some months this year over 2002. She said the cost of basic items such as groceries was a concern for many callers.
"The cost of food has increased so much, so there's not a lot of money around," she said.
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The most recent figures available this morning show St Vincent de Paul's Dublin headquarters received 1,040 calls in January and February this year compared to 542 in the same months of 2002 - a 92 per cent increase.
These months mark the post-Christmas period, which traditionally sees many families getting into debt to pay for children's presents and clothes.
Ms Faulkner said there had been generally an increase in calls to the head office since the beginning of the year and that this would be "mirrored" in St Vincent de Paul offices throughout the country.
She said this time of year was particularly busy as parents tried to meet children's back-to-school expenses. "This is a most stressful time for families and the calls start to come in from early August from mothers wondering will help be available."
She also suggested the government should review eligibility for the annual clothing and footwear grant, which is only available to families on social welfare or family income support.
St Vincent de Paul spent some €2.1 million on education support in the 12 months to last March, including payments for clothing, footwear and living expenses for some people returning to education. The charity's total spend was €21.6 million in the 32 counties of Ireland.
The Green Party said the increase in calls to the Dublin office of St Vincent de Paul "clearly represents a disturbing trend".The party's social and family affairs spokesman, Mr Dan Boyle, said: "This news highlights the continuing failure of the Government's poverty indicators to properly reflect the deteriorating situation that growing numbers of Irish people now find themselves living in."
"Particularly worrying is the ever increasing cost of education for disadvantaged families.
The TD questioned whether the €16.8 million allocation from the Department of Social and Family Affairs for back-to-school payments is adequate to deal with this problem.
"The fact that the St. Vincent de Paul provides €2.1 million each year from its own resources for these purposes is testament to the fact that the Government should be doing more," he said.
Parents who may qualify for the back-to-school clothing and footwear grant have been urged to apply to their local health board before the end of September.
The payment, which is means tested, is €80 for children aged two to 11 years and €150 for children aged 12 and over.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said that so far this year about 58,000 applications have been received, representing payments for some 115,000 children.