Cork Penny Dinners say they are seeing a large increase in the number of people coming to them for help for the first time.
The charity in the city centre say that people are finding it more difficult to feed themselves as grocery inflation reaches a 9 year high of five point five per cent.
High rents coupled with the increasing cost of fuel have resulted in many people turning to charities for help for the first time.
Speaking to RedFM News, Caitriona Twomey from Cork Penny Dinners says the government needs to do more to tackle the crisis:
We've elderly couples now coming and they're just afraid in case their money runs out. And they're saving their money for the winter so that they can keep themselves warm. They're hardship stories, but it shouldn't be happening. We just asked the government you know, saying that it's an emergency just falls on deaf ears, but it is an emergency. When our numbers are grown like they are, I know Cork Simon and SVP and all of them, the numbers are growing for them too. So if everybody is saying it, it has to be happening in order to counteract that the Government has to step in."
