With the cost of living in Ireland at an all-time high, the Saint Vincent De Paul (SVP) in Galway has seen an increase in the number of families seeking its assistance.

"The signs are on that things are changing, that is for sure. We noticed a change locally from Christmas 2006. Last Christmas we had our busiest Christmas in all the time I have worked here (24 years). When we were in the boom time with the Celtic Tiger the wealth didn't bring everyone up. The least well-off suffered here again," said Colm Noonan, Administrator of SVP in Galway.

The price of staple foods has risen sharply this year, with flour up by 40 per cent, milk up by 30 per cent and the cost of bread up by 12 per cent.

"All of the staple foods of people on a low-income diet have gone up this year. People who are on a low budget diet don't have the money to be buying organic and generally rely on pasta, bread and milk foods. I worry right now about how families on long term social welfare and single parent families will cope. Fuel is one of the major concerns to people who come into us. The cost of fuel and heating is at the top of peoples' list at the moment with food also, but to a lesser extent. We are seeing families coming back to us that have not been around in years but this year they are coming back into us.

"The SVP shop also has gotten busier in the last few months, people are coming in looking for good value clothes. All of these are indicators to what is going on around us. We I suppose act as a barometer to what is going on and the tell tale signs are definitely there at the moment," said Mr Noonan.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment