Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 February 2014
416. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the current waiting lists for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service by area; if any area is significantly out of line with the average; if he will explain in each case the reason it is out of line; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8357/14]
View answerThe Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, provides a high quality personal service to assist 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.
Information and immediate support on all aspects of money management and personal debt is available from the MABS Helpline. In many cases the Helpline can provide the help and support people need. However, if a caller needs to avail of the face-to-face service provided by a MABS Money Adviser, they will be directed to a local MABS office.
There is ongoing contact with clients who are awaiting face-to-face appointment, including call-back and helpline support and the use of self-help material. In 2013, MABS also dealt with approx. 4,000 emergency clients who were seen immediately without any waiting period. Altogether, the number of new clients presenting to MABS in 2013 was 20,552.
While statistics for 2014 have not yet been compiled, initial indications are that waiting times for those services with above average waiting times in 2013 are reducing, e.g. Leitrim MABS waiting time is down to 4 weeks at end of January and Roscommon MABS is down to just over 5 weeks.
CIB continues to work with services to ensure clients are issued with notification of their first appointment immediately following an assessment stage or within five working days.
CIB is also working with those services with above average waiting times to put in place processes and practices to manage and reduce the waiting periods. This includes in some cases the temporary allocation of additional resource money advice staff to deal with waiting lists.
North Donegal MABS has experienced an increased demand for services and client waiting times at end December 2013 was an average of 26.2 weeks. CIB is working closely with the three Donegal based MABS companies to address client demand in North Donegal with a view to re-balancing of clients attending each of the services, particularly in the light of very low demand in Donegal South and West.
In addition, staff have been redeployed from outreach services to the main Letterkenny office, the full approved staffing level has been restored following a long term absence and provision for additional capacity has recently been made.
MABS operate an appointment scheduling system and this means that in some cases clients may have to wait a number of weeks for the next available appointment. While waiting for an appointment, clients can use MABS free self-help materials to take holding action and to begin the process of assessing their situation. The MABS Helpline can also support clients while they are awaiting their first appointment with a MABS money adviser.
The Money Advice and Budgeting Service is made up of a network of 53 companies which includes 51 local companies and 2 national companies, MABS ndl and National Traveller MABS. In addition, the MABS National Telephone Helpline is available from 9 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday and the MABS website can be accessed 24 hours a day at www.mabs.ie. In 2014 funding of some €18.6 million has been provided to MABS.
The Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has responsibility for MABS, compiles information on the waiting times in each MABS office on a quarterly basis and posts it to the www.mabs.ie website. The most recent statistics available, compiled to end of December 2013, record that the average waiting time from first point of contact to first appointment with a money adviser is some 4.5 weeks. This is a national average and can are vary greatly between offices. Details are provided by county/office area in the table below.
Sixty percent of MABS services (31 out of 51) have waiting times of 4 weeks or less and three quarters of services (39 out of 51) have waiting times of 6 weeks or less. 12 MABS services have longer 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.
MABS Client Waiting Times & Numbers at 31 December 2013
|
Company |
Contact Phone |
Waiting time - Average Weeks |
Number awaiting first appointment |
|
Arklow & District |
0761 07 2390 |
2.4 |
6 |
|
Athlone |
0761 07 2400 |
1.6 |
5 |
|
Ballymun |
0761 07 2150 |
4.2 |
17 |
|
Blanchardstown |
0761 07 2330 |
9.4 |
68 |
|
Bray |
0761 07 2250 |
1.0 |
2 |
|
Carlow |
0761 07 2070 |
0.6 |
1 |
|
Cavan |
0761 07 2410 |
3.4 |
9 |
|
Charleville |
0761 07 2420 |
8.8 |
22 |
|
Clare |
0761 07 2430 Ennis 0761 07 2790 Shannon |
2.2 |
9 |
|
Clondalkin |
0761 07 2270 |
3.8 |
13 |
|
Cork City |
0761 07 2090 |
6.4 |
63 |
|
Cork North |
0761 07 2440 |
4.0 |
7 |
|
Cork West |
0761 07 2450 Dunmanway |
1.6 |
3 |
|
Donegal North |
0761 07 2460 0761 07 2470 Inishowen |
26.2 |
121 |
|
Donegal South |
0761 07 2480 |
4.0 |
2 |
|
Donegal West |
0761 07 2650 |
1.6 |
2 |
|
Drogheda |
0761 07 2490 |
9.0 |
92 |
|
Dublin 10 + 20 |
0761 07 2110 Cherry Orchard 0761 07 2800 Ballyfermot |
2.6 |
11 |
|
Dublin 12 Area |
0761 07 2500 |
5.4 |
10 |
|
Dublin North City |
0761 07 2510 |
7.8 |
12 |
|
Dublin North East |
0761 07 2290 |
4.0 |
2 |
|
Dublin South East |
0761 07 2520 |
2.8 |
13 |
|
Dun Laoghaire |
0761 07 2530 |
5.2 |
9 |
|
Dundalk |
0761 07 2540 |
1.0 |
- |
|
Dundrum/Rathfarnham |
0761 07 2310 |
3.4 |
5 |
|
Fingal |
0761 07 2550 |
8.2 |
27 |
|
Finglas Cabra |
0761 07 2170 |
1.0 |
3 |
|
Galway North |
0761 07 2560 |
3.8 |
11 |
|
Galway South |
0761 07 2570 0761 07 2580 Loughrea |
6.0 |
41 |
|
Kerry |
0761 07 2190 |
4.6 |
20 |
|
Kildare |
0761 07 2590 Kilcock 0761 07 2600 Newbridge |
4.0 |
25 |
|
Kilkenny |
0761 07 2610 |
1.8 |
4 |
|
Laois |
0761 07 2620 |
1.6 |
1 |
|
Leitrim |
0761 07 2630 |
6.8 |
13 |
|
Liffey South West |
0761 07 2350 |
3.2 |
8 |
|
Limerick |
0761 07 2210 |
8.2 |
48 |
|
Longford |
0761 07 2640 |
2.2 |
6 |
|
Mayo North |
0761 07 2660 |
6.0 |
10 |
|
Mayo South |
0761 07 2670 |
14.4 |
47 |
|
Meath |
0761 07 2680 |
10.2 |
43 |
|
Monaghan |
0761 07 2690 |
3.0 |
5 |
|
Mullingar |
0761 07 2700 |
1.8 |
2 |
|
Offaly |
0761 07 2710 |
6.0 |
19 |
|
Roscommon |
0761 07 2720 |
7.8 |
8 |
|
Sligo |
0761 07 2730 |
4.2 |
7 |
|
Tallaght |
0761 07 2370 |
3.8 |
25 |
|
Tipperary North |
0761 07 2740 Thurles 0761 07 2760 Nenagh |
2.6 |
6 |
|
Tipperary South |
0761 07 2130 0761 07 2750 Clonmel |
2.0 |
10 |
|
Waterford |
0761 07 2050 Waterford |
0.8 |
1 |
|
Waterford West |
0761 07 2770 Waterford West |
0.4 |
- |
|
Wexford |
0761 07 2780 Wexford |
1.2 |
4 |
