The Catholic Church has said its buildings should be included in the Government's energy support schemes.

Financial supports were announced for households, businesses, sports organisations and voluntary organisations in Budget 2023.

However, there was nothing for community facilities that are not grant-aided - such as parish centres, community halls and church buildings.

'Like every business'

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, told The Hard Shoulder they are the same as everyone else.

"They're facing, like every business in this country and every private individual, they're facing mounting energy bills.

"It's particularly exasperated in the case of these community facilities.

"Many are quite large but they are providing a social service for the community."

He said these have been excluded from getting any benefits "because of an anomaly" in what was announced.

'Social fabric of society'

He explained because the facilities are not publicly funded or grant-aided "we don't actually come under any of these schemes."

"These buildings are, in effect, part of the social fabric of society.

"What we're looking for is that the supports that have been put in place by the Government, that they might be adapted so as to ameliorate in some little way the energy costs that are rising exponentially."

'Places of refuge'

He said a wide-range of people use these facilities.

"They're the older people of the population, they're people - say - in active retirement groups.

"These churches are very often used as places of refuge - for migrants, refugees, the homeless people - because they're heated.

"So if they want to escape the cold, they go in there for a while [to] get away from the excesses of our bad weather".

Put to him that the church can afford to pay for this itself, he claimed this is not the case.

"The money that comes into churches is what comes in in the baskets.

"If you take the Archdiocese of Dublin... there are many parishes here that can't meet the basic costs.

"Insurance costs, heat costs, light costs; they're the basic cost to keep a building open, and they're not even able to raise that through their Sunday collection," he added.