Thank you for allowing me to raise this important matter on the Adjournment. I request that sufficient funds be given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society this Christmas. I believe the Minister for Social Welfare, not the Minister for Finance, is responsible for this allocation. I appreciate the Department would prefer this debate to take place a day or two later but I have no guarantee that my matter would then be selected for the Adjournment. One must accept the decisions of the House as they are taken. I thank the Minister for being present for this debate.
The year ending 31 March 1993 was a most difficult one for the society as its expenditure increased by 26 per cent, from £11.7 million to £14.649 million. In its report it states this increase is due mainly to the provision of services and moneys to many of the hundreds of thousands who are unemployed. The society's job creation programme — I was not aware it was involved in job creation — helped over 1,100 people set up their own enterprises by providing them with consultancy advice and financial assistance. The people who contribute to the society are to be complimented and they know the money is used for productive purposes.
The society's report outlines its sources of income. It received £4.5 million from church gate collections, £1.864 million from fundraising and £2.7 million from subscriptions. Its total income was about £9.5 million. The society received £1.4 million in State grants which included a special allocation of £1 million provided by the Minister for Social Welfare last year. I was surprised at the range of activities undertaken by the society. It spent £1.5 million on food and £4.4 million on providing cash assistance. When one considers the work of the community welfare officers throughout the country, one gets an idea of the seriousness and extent of poverty among families. Training and development, the provision of clothing, furniture and fuel, publications, job creation and holiday management courses are among the society's wide range of activities. Last year the society provided holidays for 2,000 or 3,000 children. It provided 182,500 bed nights during the year. If the State had to provide this service I do not know how it could do so. I read recently that the society will require £4 million this Christmas. I know it had collections throughout the country recently and that people were as generous as ever.
I am sure a substantial number of those who are helped continuously by the society take part in the national lottery each week. A recent report on the national lottery showed people on lower incomes buy a large number of lottery tickets. It is only right that the Government should use some of the £70 million it receives from the national lottery to help the society. None of this money is being reinvested through the local authorities, which was proposed. The bulk of it is spent on health, with which we do not disagree. Lottery funds have been provided by Ministers to organisations which did not apply for them. An investigation would show that much of the work for which these funds have been provided has not been completed.
A sum of at least £2 million should be provided to the society before Christmas. It has a turnover of about £15 million and helps those in need by providing badly needed services which the State could not adequately provide. I hope that raising the matter in the House gives some comfort to those who work long hours, day and night, during winter and summer, collecting funds and distributing them to families in real need. I hope that the Government will look on this favourably as it receives substantial funds every week from the national lottery, partly contributed by these people in an attempt to improve their circumstances.
I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter and the Minister of State for being here to reply. I hope, for the sake of the thousands of people whom the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul will help, he will have some good news this Christmas.
