MABS faces funding worries

Fears have been raised that unless funding is immediately restored to Limerick’s Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) hundreds of people in financial difficulty could be at risk of losing their homes.

The Citizen’s Information Bureau (CIB), which funds MABS as an agent of the Department of Social Protection, has suspended funding to the Limerick service claiming that it is “non-compliant”.

But the hand-to-mouth funding system on which MABS survives means that money to pay staff and bills runs out at the end of this month, leaving seven staff out of a job and up to 192,000 clients in financial distress without advice or support.