The Government was challenged yesterday to take immediate steps to tackle the roots of poverty and inequality which have left about one in five people living on weekly incomes of less than £90.
The call was made yesterday by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which proposed measures including increases in social welfare payments, more social housing and medical cards for all children under 18.
The society's national president, Mr Noel Clear, said "the experiences of our members is that Irish society is becoming more polarised as each year passes.
"In fact, the richest 10 per cent of our population now account for 25 per cent of all income with the poorest 10 per cent of the population accounting for only 2 per cent. And around 20 per cent of our population are living in incomes of less than £90 a week."
Mr Clear was speaking at the launch of the society's annual report in Dublin. He compared the affluence of some with the dire poverty of people sleeping rough, begging on the streets or struggling to maintain a standard of living that most take for granted.
The society's volunteers are "standing in the gap" of inadequate income, health, education and housing services, he said. "We are doing all our volunteers' time and our organisation's resources allow for those in desperate need."
The society spent more than £17 million, as well as one million "volunteer hours", fighting inequality and poverty last year. It urged the Government to take steps to create a just and equitable society that is fully inclusive. These include increasing child benefit rates and raising the lowest weekly social welfare payment for adults to at least £98; removing all those on the minimum wage out of the tax net; a significant raising of the medical card eligibility threshold for those on low pay and medical cards for all children under 18.
The society wants school transport costs poverty-proofed and improvements in grants for schoolbooks and meals; measures to meet the estimated 17,000 unit shortfall in social housing and more private rented housing; the extension of the first-time buyers' grant to second-hand homes.
Mr Clear said that given Government leadership towards creating a more just society, "the challenge for the business community, trade unions, the church, the public at large is to ensure that they each fulfil their obligation in contributing towards a new Ireland that moves swiftly to eliminate poverty, inequality and injustices in Irish society and creates more humane policies of equitable access to health, education, housing and an adequate standard-of-living income truly available to all."