The quarterly journal of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Ireland has said that it is "always the rich and well-off" who tell those in financial difficulties, the deprived and the poor, that they should do with less and claims that this is what the Government has done in its Budget.
"Billions have been given to the banks while Government neglect has thrown thousands of ordinary people out of their jobs into unemployment and despair," says the OZANAM BULLETIN, the national magazine of social concern published by the SVP. "Cuts in social welfare and in wages and salaries in both the public and private sectors, caused directly by Government failure to control the greed of the wealthy and powerful in Ireland, are in effect a transfer of wealth and income from those who have little to those who have everything.
"Government policies are favouring the rich" and by doing so are changing the character of Irish life, the magazine warns and says this is extremely worrying for the future.
The Bulletin says that the founder of the SVP, Frederic Ozanam, wanted those in power to respect human dignity and the Government should take note of his words.
The Bulletin is available from all SVP regional offices and can be read as a PDF on this website.