The annual Christmas St. Vincent de Paul Appeal begins today with the society expecting over a quarter of a million calls for assistance this year.
The charity revealed they recorded 230 thousand requests last year and they expect to exceed that record in the run up to Christmas day.
The society say with the cost of living crisis, those hardest hit will be one parent-families, low-income workers; households on fixed social welfare incomes; low-income households in rural areas; and people with disabilities and their carers.