Women experiencing poverty are being forced to prioritise buying food over period products.
A food bank at the coalface of the cost-of-living crisis is now distributing sanitary towels and tampons to women and girls in need.
Finance administrator with the Quarryvale Family Resource Centre in Clondalkin, Dublin, Amanda Quinn said that it is a case of "food first...and then period products".
The centre runs a food bank. In her role as finance administrator Ms Quinn meets with the people who need this vital support and discusses the situation with them during the registration process.
During these conversations she gains insight into the financial pressure families are facing.
"The focus and the priority is feeding the family sufficiently, period products tend to be treated like luxury products," Ms Quinn said.
"It's not a luxury product. It's an essential item, but it's not the priority unfortunately.
"The priority is food, heating the house and electricity, and of course as we know with the cost of both increasing, period poverty is real. We're experiencing it here in our food banks."
She said that it can be particularly difficult to see teenage girls experiencing period poverty and the embarrassment it causes.
"There's an embarrassment. There's a shame," Ms Quinn said.
"I'm signing up women and they're almost embarrassed to ask 'do you have sanitary pads? Do you provide tampons?' and of course we do.
"We do as much as we can. We can't do enough. We'd like to do more, but our hands are tied as well.
"There is such a demand. Period poverty is so real."
Ms Quinn said that the Government needs to do more to help.
"I can't stress how important it is and the fact that we can provide what we do provide, we want to continue this, but that takes funding," Ms Quinn said.
"It takes initiative from the Government to help our charity and so many other charities out there. It's not just us. It's everybody out there working in the same field as we do.
"We just need more help. We really do."
Fine Gael TD for Dublin Midwest Emer Higgins said: "60% of young girls have missed days at school due to their periods.
"Now sometimes that's period pain or a symptom of the period, but other times it is just the stigma of having your period and for some people it will also be the access issue when it comes to period products.
"We don't want anybody ever feeling that they are disadvantaged and in a situation where they can't go to school because of a period, so the more Government can do in this space the better."
Period poverty
She said that rolling out products to all schools is a vital step to tackle period poverty.
Some €1.5 million was allocated for 2022 and 2023. But Senator Emer Higgins said: "We need to go bigger next year."
In a statement, the Department of Health said: "In terms of period poverty mitigation, the most urgent focus is on supporting those most in need, for example the homeless, those living with addiction, minorities including Travellers, Roma, and refugees and those experiencing consistent poverty.
"Funding of €0.71 million was allocated for this in Budget 2022; an additional €100,000 was allocated in 2023, with €300,000 allocated to the Health Service Executive in 2023 and €514,000 to the Department of Health."
With the exponential growth in women's sport, some sporting organisations have identified the need to support athletes who may be experiencing period poverty.
Boxing
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association is the governing body for amateur boxing.
It provided period packs to over 350 boxing clubs to combat period poverty and to support boxers.
Communications and inclusion officer with the IABA Ciara Plunkett said: "Our thinking in launching 'IABA Period' was really in recognition that no boxer should have to pause their training or competing because they don't have access to period products.
"We partnered with Positive Period Ireland and 'We Are Riley' to ensure that every club in Ireland had access to a period product pack and we were very considerate of the stage of life at which those using the products may find themselves.
"There were sanitary towels, applicator tampons and tampons, because women and girls either can be caught unawares or may find themselves not in a position to afford those products for themselves and boxing never stops, not even for periods."
