Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputies Halligan and Ó Snodaigh share a common concern about preventing people from getting into arrears and debt. The allocation to the Citizens' Information Board, including MABS, has increased by over €1 million for 2013 from €45.7 million to €46.8 million. I concur with Deputy Halligan about the valuable services that MABS supplies, including its assistance in getting people to begin saving money in credit unions.

The reason for recovering more than €2 per week is to deal with people who have been scamming the social welfare system. For someone living beside tenants who have defrauded the system, €2 per week seems like a joke. The provision on recovering arrears allows for up to 15% recovery. Deputy O'Dea will know that in most streets in Limerick the tenants draw exactly the social welfare payments to which they are entitled. It is not fair on these individuals if others who cheat the system repay at a rate of €2 per week. The vast majority of people are honest about social welfare but if we discover that someone is scamming the system we will ask him or her to pay more than €2 per week. The recovery will take up to 15% of the primary payment for the individual concerned. That will work out at up to €28 out of €188 but it sends out a message that money taken from the system is money taken from the pockets of pensioners and those on disability payments. We will have enhanced powers to recover overpayments.

I was shocked on becoming Minister to find that arrears amounted to €350 million over a lengthy period of time. These arrears were referenced in all the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General. As an accountant and a realist, I assume that much of this money will not be recovered but I want to send out the signal that we will be recovering arrears at a reasonable rate. Just as those who get local authority tenancies can pay through the household budgeting system, which is an enormous relief to most women who are responsible for paying rents, people will not get into arrears and they will be able to use the services of MABS in a more positive framework in terms of building savings in a credit union and borrowing at the kind of rates they can afford rather than falling into the hands of those who sell credit at expensive prices.

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