THE GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to give €1 million to three different charities this Christmas.

The money will be distributed to St Vincent de Paul, Crosscare and Protestant Aid with the funding coming from savings already made.

The distribution of the money was approved by the Cabinet today and will see €770,000 given to the St Vincent de Paul, €130,000 will go to Protestant Aid and €100,000 will go to Crosscare.

All three organisations have religious links but a government spokesperson said this evening that their connections to religion were “not the primary concern” in ministers’ decision on who to donate to.

The donations are also not specifically linked to the recent controversy surrounding the use of charitable funds to top-up executive salaries in some health agencies with fundraisers recently reporting a sharp decline in donations in recent weeks.

A spokesperson said there was concern within government that worthy causes may be affected by the top-up controversies, but said these donations announced today are on the basis of concerns about demands on these organisations at this time of year.

Read: Fundraising ‘down 40 per cent’ as top-up controversy continues