The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, has repeated a call to the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, not to "hurt the poor" when making cutbacks.
He said that Ireland could not hide behind the thinking that there would be a better time than now to tackle the root causes of poverty.
He described the rise in the number of homeless people as alarming. "Having a place to call their own remains a distant possibility for many, never mind a distant reality. It is a shame that so many of our people must depend on bed and breakfasts, shelters and emergency hostels," he said.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of the annual report of Crosscare, the Dublin archdiocese's social care agency, he asked: "Who would have thought that 6 per cent of our population would be immigrants, with their own unique needs, or that we would, in the new millennium, be still providing over 100,000 meals per annum to the poor of Dublin from Crosscare's food centres?" Also in 2002, Crosscare doubled its night shelter capacity to cope with demand.
The Cardinal called for statutory funding of voluntary bodies to be extended from annual grants to a three- to five-year cycle. "This would facilitate the provision of high-quality services to those in need" and enable such agencies plan for the longer term in the social services area, he said.
The partnership between the State and the voluntary non-government agencies was critical in addressing social issues and assistance to the disadvantaged, he said.
"But this partnership should not be taken for granted. Voluntary organisations need to plan effectively for the longer term - rather than the 12-month time frame currently operated by the State," he continued.
He congratulated Crosscare on providing an ever-growing range of services in the Dublin diocese. The agency still provides food and clothing for the poor and an extensive meals-on-wheels programme for those that are housebound.
The annual collection for Crosscare will take place in all Dublin parishes this weekend.
