Debt counselling service helps 16,000 per year

AROUND 16,000 people are turning to the State’s Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) every year to help them get out of debt.

Last year 30,000 people used the service, compared to just 18,000 four years earlier.

Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan now plans to spend €14.9 million on the service next year - up 10% on 2005, with most of the increase being spent on pay and administration.

“They (MABS) do a super job. There is still a lot of people out there in the hands of back-street moneylenders,” said Mr Brennan.

The service, established in 1992 by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, now has 60 offices throughout Ireland and around 150 money advisers.

MABS also expects to be in a better position to examine the debt problem with their specially developed automated software system introduced over the summer at a cost of €30,000. A key feature of the integrated system is a central payments system that will enable payments to be made centrally from an electronic fund on behalf of MABS clients.

The system will also provide detailed statistics on the nature of debt incurred, help identify trends and profile the type of clients accessing the service.

MABS has also redesigned its website (www.mabs.ie) to help people who need just a little help in dealing with their indebtedness themselves so as to free up staff to deal with more serious cases.

MABS spokesman Michael Culloty said they already knew that over 60% of the people who accessed the free and confidential service were on low incomes or social welfare.

“Even a small change in their lifestyle can throw their already tight budgeting into disarray,” he pointed out. And, he said, because of the easy access to credit, more people on moderate income are getting into difficulty.

“When there is an additional expense it can be very hard for people to keep their financial affairs in order.

“People tend to stick their heads in the sand hoping things will get better and don’t react as early as they should.”

And with Christmas being a particularly rough time for some people Mr Culloty urged those who felt they were being forced into borrowing at this time of year to contact their local MABS office first.