‘Priorities’ of debt advice firms questioned

IRELAND’s free, state-provided financial advice group has raised concerns over the “real priorities” of a growing number of private firms offering debt advice to people in financial difficulty.

In recent weeks, Ireland’s national debt advice group, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), has been made aware of up to a dozen new firms operating in the specialist field.

According to MABS while some of the groups, based in Ireland and abroad, are operating as free services, others are seeking payment before providing detailed advice on how to cope with drastic personal financial problems.