Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that the dedicated mortgage advisers employed by the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, do a tremendous job at very little cost to the taxpayer, but is he aware that they have no security of tenure? Their contract is simply renewed annually and the practice is to tell them only at the last moment whether or not their contract will be renewed. Obviously, that is very unsatisfactory for the people doing that job. Is the Taoiseach aware also that the budget for this service was cut substantially this year? In my area the cut in real terms came to about 25%. There are 46,000 mortgage arrears cases in the country at present and interest rates are rising. Will the Taoiseach commit to put this service on a proper footing for the people who practise with these unfortunate people who are in arrears and, also, that a proper budget will be allocated towards that? This is vital and critical work and likely to become more so.

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