Calls to debt helpline rise threefold on last year

MORE people with personal debt issues have contacted the State-provided financial and budgetary helpline in the first six months of 2009 than all of last year, it has emerged.

New figures from the Money Advice and Budgetary Service (MABS) show that between January and the end of June 12,427 people sought help from the group as a direct result of mounting personal debt.

The figure, which includes 6,450 calls between January and March alone, is almost three times higher than the number of calls in the first six months of 2008, when 4,641 requests for help were received.

The MABS figures show that 5,977 calls were made between April and June this year – more than double the 2,313 during the corresponding months in 2008.

Statistics indicate that the recession is continuing to have a devastating impact on the Irish public, with 1,454 more calls to the helpline in the first seven months of 2009 than all of last year.

“The most common reasons for the calls are credit card debt, paying utility bills, rent, money lenders and living without employment.

“But for most of them the single most important priority is keeping the roof over their head,” a MABS spokesperson explained.

“We have people from different sections of society calling, but the main groups would be young couples with children and people reaching retirement age,” he added.

According to the official figures, the highest number of calls received by the helpline between January and June were from the 26 to 40-year-old age group, with 5,373 calls already logged this year.

Young couples with children are also increasingly struggling to cope with the downturn according to the financial advice service, with the 2,200 calls from them in the first half of this year indicating that the total figure for 2009 will be in excess of the 3,728 requests for help in 2008.

In addition to the helpline figures, the state-provided financial advice group has also confirmed that the number of new clients for specific services offered had reached 9,779 people by the end of June – 515 more than the same period last year.

Based on figures for the first half of this year, a significant rise in the number of new clients with a mortgage or in social housing schemes is expected by the end of 2009.

The figures come after the recent Bord Snip Nua report called for a 5% cut in social welfare payments as part of a raft of plans to help re-balance the Irish exchequer.

* The MABS helpline is open between 9am and 8pm, Monday to Friday, on 1890 283 438