The Society of St Vincent de Paul has appealed for public donations after a year which saw demand for its services increase to a record cost of €33 million.
The society said the need for cash assistance, food supplies and fuel was increasing, but more funds were needed to maintain these services in the year ahead.
Brian O'Reilly, national president of St Vincent de Paul, said: "Our excess of income over expenditure last year was equivalent to less than two weeks' reserve, in a climate where the cost of providing essentials to those we serve is rising all the time."
He said the society relied on public donations for more than 80 per cent of its income.
"We're having to spend almost €2.8 million per month to meet the demand for our services. If you put a price on the work of our 9,000 volunteers, you could probably double the worth of SVP input," said Mr O'Reilly.
The call for donations came during the publication of the society's annual report for 2004 yesterday. It said demand for cash assistance, food, education and fuel assistance accounted for the bulk of its expenditure.
A further €1 million was spent on clothing and furniture for people in need.
The society also used the publication of yesterday's report to call on the Government to take steps in next month's budget to help build a "more equitable and just society".
Mr O'Reilly quoted from a United Nations report which found that Ireland was one of the most unequal societies in the developed world.
He said Government policy had been to give priority to the needs of economic growth, but this had resulted in a very uneven distribution of the fruits of this success.
"The richest 10 per cent of the population are nearly 10 times more wealthy than the poorest 10 per cent," he said. "This hardly fulfils the intention of the Constitution, which proclaims that we will cherish all the children of the nation equally."
The society is calling for movement on four key areas in the budget. On income, it is calling for increases of €17 in basic social welfare rates and a targeted child income payment for all low-income households.
On housing, it says priority must be given to plans to build in excess of 10,000 social housing units within the next seven years .
On education, it is calling for the provision of early childhood care and education for all children, along with free school books for pupils in families on social welfare.
On health, it says the Government's commitment to provide 200,000 full medical cards must be met.