Money Advice and Budgeting Service

Information

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is a free and confidential service for people with debt problems and money management problems. MABS offices are staffed by trained Money Advisers, who will:

• Help you deal with your debts and make out a budget
• Examine your income to make sure you are not missing out on any of your entitlements
• Contact your creditors on your behalf with offers of payment if you are not able to do it yourself
• Help you decide on the best way to make the payments.

People usually go to MABS because they:

• Have extra bills to pay because something has happened to them, e.g., illness in the family, separation, bereavement, accident, unemployment etc.
• Can't pay their everyday bills because they are unable to manage their money
• Have less money than they used to and can't keep up with loan repayments
• Have been living on a low income for a long time and are getting further and further behind because of the cost of education, clothing and footwear, travel, childcare, rent, etc.
• Took out more loans than they are able to repay
• Sometimes people go from welfare to work and find they haven't as much money as they thought they would have and need help with a new budget.

Making contact with MABS

You can contact the MABS Helpline - see ' Where to apply' below. A MABS Helpline adviser will discuss your money concerns and provide advice. He or she will send you out some information free of charge which will help you to address your money problems. If you wish to see a Money Adviser in your local MABS office, the MABS Helpline will give you the information you need to make an appointment at your local office.

You can also contact MABS directly yourself by phone, by letter, by email or by calling in person.

If you don't feel able to make the call yourself, you could ask someone to help you. If you are in touch with another service, for example a Citizens Information Centre, a Community Welfare Officer, Social Welfare Office, public health nurse or St. Vincent de Paul, you could ask them to contact MABS for you to make an appointment. A counsellor, doctor or other professional could make the contact for you.

No one is allowed to make an appointment for you without your agreement.

You will usually be seen by the Money Adviser in the MABS office. However, some advisers deal with a large area (especially outside of Dublin) and it might be difficult for you to go to the office. If this is so, you should say this when you make the appointment. Many offices will provide the service in another area on a part-time basis (called Outreach Service) and many Money Advisers will meet you at another location to suit you. Where this service is provided, you may have to wait a little longer for an appointment.

When you make contact with MABS, it is important that you tell them about anything very urgent, for example, if one or more or your creditors has taken legal action or your electricity or gas supply is to be disconnected. In cases like these, you may be able to get an emergency appointment.