Monthly Article by Regional President, Brendan Dempsey
It seems to me that the Government and those in privileged positions are displaying huge resistance to acknowledging the scale of inequality in Ireland.
Every day, on radio and television, in the newspapers, we are lectured about the economic problems. It is always done by those in privileged positions who lack understanding of the reality of what the Society of St.Vincent de Paul is experiencing from our unique perspective where our volunteers meet families in their own homes.
There is huge inequality in Ireland and this is seen in our own city and county by SVP volunteers who themselves are under increasing pressure in trying to cope with the problems brought to them.
The Society of St.Vincent de Paul launched its pre-Budget submission this week, pleading with the Government not to push those already in serious difficulties “over the edge.” We described cuts in Social Welfare as “immoral.” The Taoiseach rejected our call a day later. So Brian Cowen is prepared to continue his Government’s policies which lack social justice.
He takes this approach at a time when calls for help to the Society of St.Vincent de Paul have increased all over the country. In Cork they are up by 36 per cent on this time last year.
These are the realities that the economists and those in the media might like to think about when they call for more “across-the-board” cuts, from their own privileged positions, while those who caused the problems are being given a bonanza of €2.4 billion for their advice on NAMA. They get more money while the poor are told to go away when the look for social justice.
Amongst the work which the SVP does it runs a club for teenagers to keep them off the streets. There is a coffee bar selling snacks etc. I visited the club and there were 19 teenagers playing pool or listening to music. The volunteer running the club told me the 19 teenagers hadn’t a Euro between them.
There are many pressures on families trying to rear children, especially teenagers, trying to meet the cost of our free education system, rent, mortgages, lighting, heating etc. In my day mothers were worried when teenagers went out for a night’s entertainment. Today they face vastly different dangers, such as drugs, from people who target the youth and don’t care about the destruction of families, or how they ruin lives and trap young people into what can become a life of crime to pay for the drugs.
There are families who are so short of money that they leave bills for electricity or gas supplies slip into arrears or drive to work in a car without tax or insurance in an effort to keep the rent or mortgage up-to-date. Many of the families we visit remind me of the “old days” of Lent observance when Catholic teaching limited consumption of food and it was weighed for meals. There are families now managing the food they have at meals into careful portions so that it can be eked out and there is no such thing as “snacking” in between meals.
Perhaps the Taoiseach might consider that situation with Finance Minister Brian Lenihan when they cut the Social Welfare payments to those most in need.
At this time of the year we in the SVP are turning our heads to Christmas and we are worried. Parents are under enormous pressure to provide for the children. Grandparents, aunts and uncles come under pressure and feel they have to spend more than they can afford. The big worry for us is the moneylenders who charge interest rates up to 187% and those are just the legal ones!
Why, why, why go to a money lender?
For some families it is a tradition and old habits are hard to break, for others it is a new experience. People in trouble with rent or mortgages find that the bank won’t extend credit and they may never have earned enough to have had the comfort of an account with a Credit Union. Pride may not allow them to ask a charity for help.
We understand but there is a way out!
The SVP can and are willing to introduce you to your local Credit Union where you can avail of a loan, the details of which will be explained to and it can be repaid at an interest rate of less than 10%.
Christmas like weddings, confirmations, first communions were never meant to be expensive or to put families under pressure. I am appalled that a wedding can cost a young couple €20,000or €30,000 often being paid for long after the honeymoon is over. “Keeping up with the Jones’s” is expensive and often has a high price to pay, sometimes ending with the break-up of a family.
Life has got very complicated and expensive, much of it our own doing. We don’t seem to be satisfied with anything less than the most expensive or top of the range, putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves.
I have never asked readers for financial support to the SVP, but this year is different and while I appreciate that many charities will ask for your generous support, I am asking that you do give support to the Society of St.Vincent de Paul coming up to Christmas this year, through which support you can be assured that you will helping someone in need.