Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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392. To ask the Minister for Social Protection for an update on the operation of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service dedicated mortgage arrears services launched late in 2015; the numbers of home owners in the court mentoring service has helped and the number it has helped to avoid repossession, listed by county; if it is operating in all court areas and, in the case of areas where it is not operating in all court areas, and in the case of areas where it is not operating, the reason they are not included; the amount of funding allocated to MABS; the number of advisers it has employed in each of the past five years; and the projected allocation for 2016. [22088/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes or living on social welfare payments.

A Dedicated Mortgage Arrears MABS (DMA MABS) service has been established within individual local MABS companies. This service is focussing on post–MARP (Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process) cases. It is assisting mortgage holders to assess the options available to them, signposting them towards the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) if appropriate, or negotiating with lenders on their behalf. To date, 24 specialist DMA advisors and 4 Relief DMA advisors (total of 28) have been recruited and are providing services at 24 locations countrywide.

Since the establishment of the service some 1,700 cases have been progressed, 600 of which were new referrals to MABS.

A national network of Court Mentors has been established to provide support to distressed borrowers. Since 1 October 2015, MABS staff are in attendance at every repossession Court nationwide. Positive feedback on the service has been received from legal professionals operating in Court, Court staff (including Registrars), and borrowers themselves. A full list of Court locations with the Court Mentor service is attached at Appendix 1.

It is not possible to determine how many homeowners have avoided re-possession as a result of the Court Mentor service. However, it is known that 319 clients to date have been referred to MABS by the Court Mentor service, of which only 2 have been discharged from MABS due to non-engagement. The balance have been referred to the Dedicated Mortgage Arrears (DMA) Service for specific mortgage advice, or MABS for standard advice, or directed to other appropriate services (such as insolvency or legal services).

The funding provided to MABS services and the number of money advisors employed in the years 2011 to 2016 inclusive is set out in the following table. The figures do not include administrators employed across a number of services.

*The funding allocation to MABS for 2016 includes provision for the Dedicated Mortgage Arrears MABS service. The number of Money Advisors employed includes those recruited to the Dedicated Mortgage Arrears service.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Appendix 1

Court Districts Covered by MABS Court Mentor Representatives