Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The once-off payments before Christmas and shortly after Christmas are really welcome but there still are families feeling the pinch. I am working with a man at the moment who, through no fault of his own, got very sick. He is on a social welfare payment now and is trying to pay a mortgage. I am trying to get help for him and his family, particularly with their heating bill. People can go to their social welfare office and get help with bills like that. We need to do more to promote that provision.

I refer the Minister again to the work of soup kitchens. There is no funding available for my local one, St. Clare's Hospitality Kitchen. I invite her to come down to Carlow to visit the soup kitchen, which is named for the Poor Clares, and see the families that are coming in and being fed. They are in real need. Is there something she can do to support soup kitchens?

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