State service writes off millions in debt for people struggling

The State’s free money advice service has secured millions of euro in debt write-offs since January for people struggling with problem debt.

New figures show that the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) has used the debt relief notice (DRN) scheme to secure €238,000 in debt write-offs for 17 qualifying clients who engaged with its Cork City service alone in the first quarter of the year.

It is one of the highest rates of DRN write-offs in the country. The individual write-offs ranged from €3,000 for one client to €32,000 for another.