Doctors, teachers and gardaí seeking MABS aid

Gardaí, teachers and even doctors are turning to the State budgeting service MABS for help as they struggle to pay energy bills.

Middle-income families are falling into arrears with Bord Gáis and ESB as the price of gas and electricity continues to rise.

Householders are also unable to afford a tank of home heating oil — and are buying kerosene in five-gallon batches.

The revelations came as the Money Advice and Budgeting Service marked its 20th anniversary at a National Management Forum Conference in Portlaoise.

“There’s people coming to MABS now that wouldn’t have been clients before,” said its National Management Forum chairman Michael Ó Giolláin.

“It used to be the person on social welfare and low income families that we’d see. They’re still there but now our clients are also gardaí, teachers and doctors.”

As temperatures plunge, families across the country are desperately trying to keep warm.

“Some of the people on our board are social welfare inspectors and they told me they’re going out doing home visits and they’re noticing the coldness of the houses,” said Mr Ó Giolláin.

He said the experience of MABS officers on the ground was that “things are getting worse”.

However, he urged householders in arrears with energy companies to contact MABS to avoid being cut off. He said MABS had a protocol with the larger energy firms and they negotiate payment plans on behalf of clients.

“Once the ESB knows the customer is working with MABS, they won’t disconnect,” he said.

In one case, a person who contacted MABS had fallen into arrears of €8,000 to ESB but the budgeting service negotiated with the company.

Donal Yourell, of Longford MABS, said he had seen an increase in the number of people coming to the service over unpaid energy bills.

“Anecdotally we’re seeing an increase, it’s worse than last year.

“People are on reduced pay — or they’ve lost jobs and are trying to live on social welfare. They might make a mistake and decide to put the ESB back for a month and they get in trouble quickly,” he added.

Founder of AskAboutMoney.com Brendan Burgess, who addressed the conference, said there was a perception that MABS “is better suited to dealing with the budgeting and unsecured debt problems of irresponsible lower class people”.

He said there was a belief that MABS was “not really suited” to giving advice to “responsible middle class people with mortgage problems through no fault of their own” and that they would be “better suited going to see accountants who would be paid by the banks”.

“I disagree,” he said.

* The MABS helpline — 0761 07 2000 — is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm.