Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection Kevin Humphreys has returned a new car worth €18,000 which he won in a St Vincent de Paul raffle last week.

Mr Humphreys, who is a Labour TD for Dublin South East, bought the ticket in Sandymount last June.

He admitted his two adult children who are currently learning to drive would have “loved to get their hands on” the car, a Skoda Fabia, but said they were supportive of the decision to hand it back to the charity.

“We had a family discussion and we thought the best thing to do was to give it back to help the St Vincent de Paul in their work. They’re able to meet needs that the Department of Social Protection cannot.

“They have a better flexibility and they’ve always been very helpful to me in relation to constituency queries and things like that over the last number of years,” Mr Humphreys told The Irish Times.

Mr Humphreys said he regularly buys raffle tickets to support various causes as he has seen the effects of the recession on people in his constituency.

“Dublin South East, or Dublin Bay South as it is called now, is considered kind of an affluent area but it goes from the extremes... From the leafy suburbs right up into the inner city. I’ve seen the effects of the recession on many people.”

He said he hoped St Vincent de Paul would be able to get money for the car and be able to help more people.

Asked about the vote transfer pact between Fine Gael and Labour, Mr Humphreys said it would be natural for Fine Gael supporters to transfer to Labour and vice versa.

“We’ve been in government with Fine Gael for the last four and a half years, next March we’re five years there. The recovery has kicked in.

“For sustainability it would be natural for Fine Gael supporters to transfer to Labour and Labour supporters to Fine Gael. As to a formal pact, there’ll be a discussion in relation to that at our parliamentary meeting next week,” he said.