The city centre charity made the comments after a new report from Barnardo's found 51% of parents had cut their spending so they could afford to feed their families.
People reported that they were cutting back on medical and household bills as well as loan repayments and clothing while 10% of guardians were also found to be skipping meals in order to feed children.
Speaking to RedFM News, Caitriona Twomey from Cork Penny Dinners says they are seeing more and more people contacting them looking for help to feed themselves and their families:
"We get calls from people who can't get out the words they want to say in order to get help, and then it pours out of them. They're emotional, and we have to leave them say it and for us then that's hard. We just say to them it's okay, we'll help you. They're broken. And I would feel the amount of broken people we have now in the country; it should be enough for any government to sit up and say not in Ireland, not in this country."
