Poverty group warns of debt levels

ONE in every five people are in such a personal economic crisis that they cannot meet their own debt repayment responsibilities, meaning they are at risk of falling prey to loan sharks due to their perilous financial position.

Advocacy group Combat Poverty Agency (CPA) has warned that an increasing number of people are struggling to comply with repayment targets set down by individuals and organisations to which they have fallen into arrears.

During an Oireachtas Joint Committee meeting on Social and Family Affairs, the CPA said that its own research from late 2007 indicated that “over-indebtedness” levels stood at between 7-10%.