Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the ongoing lengthy waiting lists for north Donegal MABS at 9.8 weeks, four times the State average. [47775/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board (CIB), assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes and people living on social welfare payments. In 2014 funding of some €18.6 million has been provided to MABS.

Information on the waiting times in each MABS office is compiled on a quarterly basis and posted to the website. The most recent statistics available, compiled to end of September 2014, record that the average waiting time from first point of contact to first appointment with a money adviser is some 2.53 weeks. This is a national average and can vary greatly between offices.

North Donegal MABS has its main office in Letterkenny with a sub-office in Buncrana and provides a service to the North and Eastern part of the county. There are two other MABS offices in the county, one in the Gaeltacht area (Derrybeg) and one in South Donegal (Donegal town). There has been a substantial improvement in the number of people waiting for an appointment with a money adviser in North Donegal MABS in recent months. The number has dropped from 132 in January of this year to 33 at the end of November. The waiting time has significantly reduced also from 24 weeks in January to the 9.8 weeks recorded at the end of September. The Service is currently offering appointments to clients within approximately 6 weeks.

The significant improvement in waiting times is due to the prudent allocation of resources and the on-going collaborative work with the two other MABS in County Donegal. CIB will continue to work closely with North Donegal MABS on all aspects of demand, capacity and resources with a view to further reducing waiting times.

I am satisfied that the ongoing monitoring of MABS services and the deployment of available resources to meet demand will continue to contribute to the reduction of waiting times across the MABS network of offices.