St Vincent de Paul has called on the Department of Social Protection to give two weeks of extra fuel payments because many families are struggling with utility bills.
The charity is also recommending discretionary payments for people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, who do not qualify for the fuel allowance.
While there is a moratorium on disconnections of utilities, St Vincent de Paul says this does not help families who are pre-pay meters and many are spending more because they need to heat their homes all day as people are not going out to work, school or college.
There is also the extra cost of keeping children connected to their school by via digital devices. Anna Kelly, President of St Vincent de Paul food bank at Bawnogue in