Homeless and housing charity Focus Ireland has called on the Government to introduce price controls on vital foods and to ensure welfare payments are sufficient to allow the less well-off afford a healthy diet.
Focus Ireland marked its "Eat Well, Be Well" week with a call for the Government to ensure better standards of living for people who are homeless and those surviving on welfare.
The charity has been serving a different healthy menu each day this week at its low-cost restaurant at Eustace Street in Temple Bar, Dublin, which provides affordable meals and housing support to people who are homeless.
Mr Declan Jones, chief executive of Focus Ireland said: "The idea of the "Eat Well, Be Well" week is to show how people who have somewhere they can cook can eat a good diet at home. This is important as there isn't a service like our Coffee Shop in every area around Dublin or the rest of the country.
"But we have to remember there are still many people who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation who have nowhere to cook or store food so there needs to be more done to ensure there's enough permanent housing provided so they can cook meals at home like the rest of us."
The Eat Well, Be Wellweek aims to further promote health awareness with an emphasis on nutrition and diet as well as information and advice on eating well for positive health.
It was one of the recommendations of Focus Ireland's recent research into food poverty that showed people who are homeless suffer from a poor diet due to low income and poor access to cooking facilities.