Eric J. Byrne
Question:15 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has for the further development of the money lending and budgeting advice services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4022/96]
Written Answers. - Advice Services.
At present, my Department funds 35 money advice and budgeting service projects throughout the country and I am committed to making this service available nation-wide by the end of 1996. As an indication of the strength of this commitment, an additional £750,000 has been made available in the 1996 budget towards the cost or expansion of the service, bringing the total allocation for 1996 to just under £2 million.
A number of proposals for new projects are currently under consideration by my Department and it is anticipated that these will be funded before the end of the year. New projects are funded on a provisional basis for an initial period of one year. After the satisfactory completion of one year's operations, projects can be offered a three year funding commitment, which involves signing a formal contract with the Department of Social Welfare.
The contract includes a three year work plan, prepared by the management committee of the project, in which they set out the programme of work they will undertake, and the objectives they hope to achieve in the three year period. It is important to emphasise that while the Department of Social Welfare provides the funding for the running costs of the projects, the service is independent and confidential.
In addition to the moneylending and budgeting advice services my Department also operates a household budget deduction scheme through An Post. Under this scheme a person can arrange to have deductions made from her or his social welfare payments in respect of: rent and mortgage with their local authority, their ESB bills, their gas bills and their phone bills. There is no charge to the customer for this service.
At present this facility is available only to unemployed customers who are paid at post offices by means of the postdraft system. There are currently 8,790 people making 13,521 deductions under the household budget deduction scheme. Fourty-four local authorities or urban district councils are participating in the scheme.
There are around 160,000 unemployed people paid by postdraft. However the number participating has steadily increased over the past year as more people appreciate its benefits.
I favour the extension of the household budgeting scheme to all social welfare customers as soon as possible. I hope to be able to extend the deduction facility shortly to lone parents when the necessary arrangements can be completed.