Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for facilitating this debate. I was taken by surprise when I suggested it be included on the Order of Business and the Leader very graciously allocated us the time for it this evening. The point I was making on the Order of Business was that Christmas, as we all know, is a time of celebration and goodwill for most people but that there are many people who will not benefit from that mood of celebration. I am thinking of families, some of whom do not even have a home they can call their own. Other families are facing eviction because of their mortgage repayments. There are thousands of families who are making ends meet against all the odds with a pittance of an income each week. We see heroic parents who are almost shielding their children from the ravages of poverty and all the disadvantages that go with it. If one puts oneself in the position of vulnerable people at any time of the year but particularly at this time of the year when radio, newspapers and television feature glitter and excitement, one can see that money is required to be able to engage with that. If one puts oneself in the position of people who are barely making ends meet at the moment, where does one turn if one needs assistance? I am talking about assistance just to survive - food and heat. One must turn to the charities.

I am very impressed by some charities, particularly the Simon Community. The more I listen to it, the more I engage with it and the more of its work I see, the more I see that it is exceptional. I feel the same about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. I cannot remember the name of the brother in the charity which provides hot meals for people every day but every time I see him on television, he comes across as an example of what a good Christian should be. The numbers availing of those meals are increasing. One is talking about thousands. When the television cameras go in, we see all the volunteers. There is no sense of charity about it. It is a sense of responding to a community need. We see the volunteers preparing and serving the meals and there is a dignity for the people who come in. We will never have to do that. We are pretty well-off. It is charities like these which are doing the outstanding work.

I look at the young volunteers of the Simon Community who go out on the streets at night trying to find people who have gone off the radar of society. Nobody really knows about them and nobody engages with them. They are just there. If one walks the streets and comes across those people, one wonders how human nature allowed such a thing to develop. These people are human beings and are entitled to dignity in the very same way as the rest of us. We do not know their stories but whenever we hear an individual's story, it is usually about a person who came from a very good home and a very good family but something just went wrong. Something happened that put him or her in that position. When one thinks about it, it could be any of us. When one sees them there, one only thinks of them as a statistic. The only real, human contact these people have is with volunteers from the Simon Community who go out, talk, engage and bring a hot drink and food to them. These young volunteers do that all the time and one can only believe that those people on the street have a slight glimmer of hope left. It beggars belief that anybody can sleep in a doorway on the street at the height of winter. When I requested the opportunity to discuss this matter, it was to acknowledge the work of the charities and to also show support. I presume Senators talk to these people and get messages from them. They will tell Senators of their experience. Where would one get a better survey of an impoverished situation than from those who are dealing with it at the coalface? The volunteers will also talk about their concerns, which are exceptionally serious. They are able to point us, as legislators, in the right direction to do the right thing at the right time and to do it with a degree of generosity.

The other important thing is resources, which may have been touched on just before I came in. My understanding is that most of these charities depend on voluntary contributions - a few euro here and there. If the money does not come, the services they provide cannot be provided and the recipients of those services are once again ignored and left to one side. As a legislator, I say to all legislators, particularly those at decision-making level, we should engage with those who provide hot meals, visit the homeless on the streets, and work with people who are living in homes. It is our duty as legislators. Much can be done through legislation and finance but one has to engage with the people who give the best value for money. The volunteers I know of are young, personable, educated and doing well in life. They have a spirit which says they have done well so they will give some of their time to the vulnerable who have problems, for whatever reason. They give more than just time and compassion - a sense of camaraderie is created. Surely, if a volunteer gives their services for free, they are the people who should get resources from the State. I would hate to think that hot dinners were no longer available. That is just an example. Who else will provide that?

I am not saying we will set the world on fire here this evening but I feel for once that this House is ideally suited to discuss this issue. I thank the Leader for making it possible. I would like to think the Simon Community and all such bodies will become aware that we stopped for a moment in the midst of all the work on legislation and all the frenzy and reflected on how lucky we are to have such organisations. It is really part of our heritage and tradition because of our own history to look after people who are not well looked after. Every time I watch television on Christmas Day and see people coming in for a lunch organised by a charity, I see the smiles on the faces of those people and the sense that they are a valuable part of society. I think they should be considered when we are planning budgets and looking at how to distribute the finances of the State.

I am not making this into a partisan issue because it is not that type of issue. I am talking about the future. We should stop for a moment and acknowledge that we are lucky there are hundreds of people providing this service on a voluntary basis, a service that nobody else is giving. We are giving dignity back to people. We never know when there will be a good outcome. We all know of good stories. Christmas is a giving time; it is a time when somebody came along and helped someone who seemed to be absolutely gone in society. I have read many stories and received many personal letters from people who, because of one act of kindness, got the courage to take the next step and the one after that. Many of these people eventually become part of the charity that helped them by volunteering with it. One never knows where a good deed will lead. It is not right that, when all that good will, voluntary service and commitment exist, they may not have sufficient resources to keep it going or bring it to fruition.

I selected this time of the year because it is an emotional time. It is a time that we all look forward to, for example because people are visiting or returning from other lands. There is that kind of spirit. I hope it continues beyond Christmas and that we might some day seriously consider, when talking about funding, asking the representatives of those charities to come in and meet us here or at an Oireachtas committee. It would be better if they came in here. I would love to hear from the brother I mentioned earlier because he seems like a lovely character. He got the freedom of Dublin City recently and I would love to have him come in and tell us of his experiences. One will find he has no bitterness or recriminations. It would be great to engage with him. I would also love to hear from some of the young people who go out on the street and meet those living rough. They are the people at the coalface and it would be wonderful to create the opportunity here to listen to them. It would be good for Senators, the Seanad and the democratic system because the people coming in would appreciate the fact that we gave them the time and opportunity.

In conclusion, I feel this can only be for the good. It is a first step in the right direction. There is not a single Senator here who does not contribute to the concept of engagement with charities, which do such good work. We should not engage with them in a patronising manner but help and support them and enter into a partnership with them in their work in tackling extreme poverty.