Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 Jun 1993

Vol. 431 No. 6

Written Answers. - Debt Problems.

Bernard Allen

Ceist:

52 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he proposes to carry out a survey of the level of debt in Irish families since there is no evidence of the overall level of debt in the Republic of Ireland while research in Northern Ireland shows that 10 per cent of the population there are in debt and that half of these have multiple debts.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

I have been particularly concerned for some time about the problem of indebtedness and moneylending. This is a serious problem which has been with us for some considerable time and which particularly affects the unemployed and those on low incomes generally.

In May, I introduced a household budgeting facility for social welfare customers. The service has been introduced on a trial basis in Dublin and the intention is to extend this facility as quickly as possible to all areas of the country. The service allows for deductions to be made from social welfare payments with the customer's consent. The amounts can then be paid over to the ESB, gas company and local authorities.

I see this service as having great potential to assist social welfare families who do not normally have access to the financial budgeting service provided by the banks. The offices included in the initial phase are: (a) North Cumberland St., Ballyfermot, Kilbarrack, Nutgrove, Tallaght, Werburgh St.

The organisations which have agreed to participate in the scheme area: (b) ESB, Bord Gáis Éireann, Telecom Éireann, An Post (TV licences), Dublin Corporation and Dublin County Council for rent and mortgage.

It is intended to progressively extend the scheme to cover all areas of the country.

In 1992, my Department funded the establishment of pilot projects around the country, aimed at building new and more comprehensive approaches to combating the problems of moneylending. Five projects were set up in Dublin city, West Clare, Cork city, Limerick city and Waterford city. Under this scheme local groups who had already been involved in this work are expanding their efforts and are trying out a variety of new and different appoaches to tackling the problems of moneylending. The key elements of the projects include a general money advice element, targeted at families identified as having particular problems with moneylenders, a role for both statutory and voluntary bodies and an emphasis on practical, budget based measures that would have success over the long term in removing people from dependence on moneylenders. The regional management of my Department and the local community welfare service are both actively involved in these projects.

The work of these projects is being monitored by my Department. I will be examining the results of this evaluation with a view to extending the scheme later this year.

In the light of the outcome of the evaluation currently being undertaken I will consider what further measures may be required, including the question as to whether a survey of the kind suggested by the Deputy should be undertaken.