Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 160: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she is taking to deal with the long waiting times for a Money Advice and Budgeting Service appointment in some areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23439/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) provides assistance to people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. There are 53 independent MABS companies with voluntary boards of management operating the local services throughout the country. In addition, the MABS National Telephone Helpline is available from 9am to 8 pm, Monday to Friday, at lo-call number 1890 283 438 and budgeting and money management information can be accessed 24 hours a day at www.mabs.ie.

In 2009, almost €18 million has been provided to fund the MABS. Additional investment in recent years has strengthened the capacity of the MABS to deal with increased demand for service. There are 252 money advice staff employed throughout the country and the Telephone Helpline has been strengthened to provide an immediate response to clients seeking information and advice.

All MABS companies operate an appointments system for meeting clients. Clients with urgent difficulties are prioritised for attention and dealt with promptly. Cases that are less urgent are referred to the Telephone Helpline and to the website for immediate assistance with budgeting and money management issues. The Helpline can now handle less complex straight forward single debt cases such as threatened utility disconnections and deals directly with the ESB and An Bord Gais in relation to these cases. Over 90% of callers to the Helpline find that their money management and budgeting issues can be resolved with the assistance of the helpline advisor. The Telephone Helpline also assists local services to manage their appointment lists by providing an initial MABS service to clients and ongoing support while they await their appointment with their local money advisor.

Local services monitor their waiting times for appointments and, where required, seek guidance and assistance in managing their caseload from MABS NDL, the national support company. Information is not collected centrally on waiting times for appointments at different MABS offices throughout the country.

MABS NDL has introduced a number of community education and other management support initiatives to assist the local services with their increased caseloads. These include an education programme for people facing redundancy to inform them about managing on a reduced income and how to avoid getting into debt.