Priests in some dioceses are facing a financial crisis as church closures have meant there are no weekly basket collections to fund salaries.

Fr John Collins, a parish priest and spokesman for the Association of Catholic Priests, has called on the Department of Social Protection to be more flexible in its application of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, which pays €350 a week to people who have lost their jobs.

Fr Collins told the Irish Independent that he is self-employed and pays his taxes.

"If I get into difficulties, I should be entitled to whatever supports are there for the self-employed," he said.

A curate in the Archdiocese of Dublin earns around €23,000 per year, while parish priests earn up to €27,000.

Priests often supplement their incomes with stipends from weddings and other occasions which have been cancelled in recent weeks because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Fr Collins warned the drop in church basket collections will begin to be felt from May and June onwards. The collections go to the diocesan common fund that pays for priests' salaries among other things.

A spokesman for the Department of Social Protection said priests were eligible for the Covid-19 payment if they are under 66 and can declare that they lost their employment due to the pandemic.

However, Fr Collins said this would mean dioceses would have to make priests redundant, which will not happen as they are carrying out funerals and tending to the sick, as well as conducting Masses online.

Irish Independent