A total of €2.8 billion would be needed to bring equity to people on the margins of a society in this State where thousands of children are undernourished, the Society of St Vincent de Paul said yesterday.
At a press conference, the SVP in its pre-Budget submission said people on the margins were struggling with a growing range of problems as a result of Government Budget and policy decisions taken in the recent past.
It called on the Government to redress the balance by taking action in the five areas of social welfare, taxation, social housing, education and health.
Prof John Monaghan, vice-president of the SVP, said over the past number of years, the budgets had definitely favoured those who were better off rather than those who were on low incomes.
It was an unfortunate fact that there was still an incredible number of people living in relative poverty and consistent poverty, he said.
"Indeed, a snapshot of Ireland today is not a very pretty one. We still have about 300,000 children, about a quarter of the child population, living in homes where the income is less than €175 a week and are living in relative poverty," he said.
That effectively meant the parents hoped none of them became ill, as they were probably not eligible for medical cards.
Even worse in terms of deprivation were those in consistent poverty.
Nearly 70,000 children did not necessarily have enough food, warmth or a second pair of shoes, he said.
The SVP spent €25 million in the last accounts helping people who were socially excluded.
Nearly 50,000 households, about 120,000 to 130,000 people, were waiting for social housing. They could never afford to buy.
It was getting worse, he said. The help calls to the head office alone were up 94 per cent to 7,605 this year compared to last year.
"The least we can expect is that the Government would make sure that those who have benefited least over the past number of years, the people who were not even invited to this old 'Celtic party', aren't the ones now expected to clean up the mess now that the party is over," Prof Monaghan said.
The Government could do it very easily by keeping its own commitments, he stated.
"The Government made a whole series of commitments and so the five key recommendations we have this year are based on asking the Government to honour its own commitments," he said.
A total of €2.8 billion was needed for the five areas, he said.
The SVP suggested requests be met by increasing capital gains tax and Government revenues from incentive schemes such as the bloodstock industry and property; reducing the cap on earning for tax relief on certain pension products; allowing SSIA investors out of their five-year contracts without penalty; and transferring up to €500 million in dormant life assurance policies to the Dormant Accounts Fund.