Dr. Tricia Kelithy:

The face-to-face aspect is important. The community welfare officer may be just one of the people with whom those in financial difficulty are dealing. If they have a disconnection notice, they will be talking to their supplier. They may also be talking to MABS. Understanding the complexity of people's lives, the importance of being able to speak to someone and explain your case and making that process as easy as possible is really important.

A critical point is that the disconnection moratorium will cease at the end of this month. As many people will have a significant amount of debt built up, it is important that there is a co-ordinated response at local level in order that people can get the support they need to avoid being disconnected in the coming weeks. The community welfare office is key to that as well.