AN ADDITIONAL €60,000 has been allocated by the Government to the St Vincent De Paul to help families struggling in the New Year.

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, announced the extra cash. The total provided by his department to the SVP in the last 12 months now stands at €1.4 million.

Ring said that Christmas places significant financial pressure on families and added that the funding will directly assist families in the challenging post-Christmas period.

He said: “St Vincent De Paul plays a hugely important role in providing practical support to the most vulnerable families and individuals in communities across the country. Many, many families find it very difficult after Christmas and we don’t want to see people being forced to go to money lenders because of the financial pressure they are under.”

SVP has stated that this additional funding is particularly important at this time of year as they have noted a significant increase in requests for help across the country.

Its national President Kieran Stafford said: “This grant will be used to assist families with their basic needs such as food, energy, debt relief and education together with the expenses associated with the challenging period after the festive season and in the coming winter months.”

Ring also announced a further €30,000 in funding for Protestant Aid to support their work in alleviating poverty. This brings to €180,000 the amount provided by the his department this year.

Protestant Aid works to relieve poverty and deprivation in the Republic of Ireland on a strictly non-denominational basis.

Read: ‘How many times can you tell your children that you just don’t have the money?’ >

Read: A record number of people sought help from St Vincent de Paul last month >