An increasing number of families are unable to meet their mortgage repayments and they need help, the mid-west regional president of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Mr James Ginnane, said yesterday.
Speaking at the society's Christmas appeal in Limerick, he said: "This is something that is occurring more often as job losses increase."
He was also critical of the abolition of the first-time buyers' grant, describing the move as "unfair at a time when so many young people are struggling to purchase their own home". He hit out at the recent book of Estimates and called on the Government to take speedy action in the areas of housing, education and health.
Mr Ginnane said it was ironic that in the last nine months of economic prosperity, the Society of St Vincent de Paul nationally still had to spend over €21 million fighting disadvantage, inequality and marginalisation.
He also referred to the society's dismay at the Government's refusal to extend medical card eligibility, and described the current health system as "inadequate, inequitable and inaccessible to those most in need of it".