Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I congratulate Fine Gael Deputies on tabling this motion and I thank the two Ministers who are here. I will speak about charitable organisations. During my term as Lord Mayor of Dublin I became aware of the coal fund. This fund was started in the 18th century by a Lord Mayor at the time. The people of the city donated small sums of money to help those people who could not afford to buy coal, which was the main fuel in those days. This fund is still in existence and it is administered by a voluntary group. Last year alone, more than €100,000 worth of vouchers were distributed to people below the poverty line living in the Dublin area. Recently, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul gave a stark reminder that last year it spent €3.4 million helping people to heat their homes. In its pre-budget submission the society states it is concerned that this cost will rise out of control. It is not good enough to ask people to rely on charitable organisations to provide basic necessities such as fuel. The Government has a responsibility in particular to the 227,000 people living below the poverty line, as stated this afternoon by the Combat Poverty Agency at one of our meetings.

Dublin City Council built the fabulous senior citizen housing complex, Memorial Court. Last year, however, the council decided the heating for the complex would be turned on at 7 a.m. and turned off at 11 p.m. Many of the older people living there wake up in the middle of the night due to the cold and have to turn on an alternative source of heating, often just a two-bar electric fire. We know from the work of Willie Bermingham and ALONE of the many older people who have died from hypothermia in poor living conditions. We must reflect on these stark figures and ensure that in the forthcoming budget the Minister makes enough funding available to the Department of Social and Family Affairs to adequately cover fuel and heating allowances.

See this speech in context