Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the information campaign undertaken by the Citizens Information Board, CIB, regarding the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service. This service offers a dedicated helpline, website and financial advice which is available to borrowers from independent accountants, the cost of which is being borne by the lenders via the Irish Banking Federation. Supporting people in difficulty with their mortgages is a key priority for Government. In this regard, and in the context of the establishment of the personal insolvency service, the Cabinet committee on mortgage arrears strongly endorsed the recommendation of the interdepartmental working group to have a very comprehensive information campaign to promote awareness of the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service which includes the helpline, website and accountancy advice. In this regard, the working group had proposed that the CIB, which has major expertise for the provision of information and had already established the helpline and the website www.keepingyourhome.ie, would be the most appropriate body to undertake this important campaign. The CIB made a decision on that basis to proceed with a single tender contract. It was further agreed that the costs should be borne by the lending institutions - the banks - and this was successfully negotiated with the Irish Banking Federation. Therefore, this campaign involves no cost for the Exchequer as it is fully funded by the lending institutions.

The total value of the work commissioned amounted to €80,400. This was based on standard rates for work of this nature and the costs were divided between the designers of the campaign - just over €15,000 - and their media partner who organised the media time - €65,000. Since the campaign was run, I am pleased to see that there has been an increase in the numbers of people accessing the helpline and the website. The campaign consisted of a two-week radio campaign involving local and national radio, a series of newspaper advertisements in national media over a three-week period and an online display advertising campaign which ran for four weeks. Since July 2012, the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service helpline has received over 5,000 calls and there have been over 100,000 visits to the website.

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