Thurles MABS team have moved to a new office on Slievenamon Road

The MABS service in Thurles has recently moved offices to 2nd Floor, Mall House, Slievenamon Road, Thurles (over Centra). This move also co incides with North Tipperary MABS forming part of the new restructured North Munster MABS (together with another five services) with effect from 1st Oct. last.
MABS the state’s Money Advice and Budgeting Service is a free, independent, confidential and non – judgmental service for people who are in debt or at risk of becoming indebted. The North Tipperary MABS local service opened in Thurles in 1995 and soon after extended to open an office in Nenagh. In both offices, trained professional staff are available to assist people deal with a myriad of indebtedness issues and at all times endeavour to seek the best possible solution/ outcome for clients who contact this service.
Speaking about MABS, Joan Young, Co-ordinator for the North Tipp service, said that MABS help people around debt and money difficulties. This can include (but is not limited to) difficulties with mortgage arrears, rent arrears, utilities, personal loans, legal moneylending debts or a combination of all these.
MABS finds that most people want to pay back what they owe but in many households the money coming in is insufficient to meet current commitments. MABS Money Advisers assist clients by checking if clients are availing of all their entitlements before completing a Standard Financial Statement (SFS) with them, which outlines their income and expenditure. Apart from clarifying spending, the SFS is a very useful tool in assisting with any necessary negotiations with creditors. Clients are regularly assisted to reach new voluntary repayments around financial agreements they entered into when their financial circumstances were more favorable.
Financial difficulties can also arise as a result of unforeseen circumstances such as illness, bereavement, loss/ reduction in income, and every household is different. Consequent to the recession, many people despite their best efforts found themselves unable to continue to meet their contractual Mortgage repayments and other loans. The government’s response to this included the provision of a number of Dedicated Mortgage Advisers (DMA) nationwide in 2015, following which this service was lucky to be then allocated a full time DMA, Jim Grace. Jim and indeed the other MA’s too have all upskilled and can advise clients in crisis around Repossession Orders and other Legal processes. Legal advice can also be availed of under the Abhaile scheme and Vouchers for €250.00 are available to cover the cost of a legal consultation.

Dedicated Mortgage Advisers (Jim Grace, DMA)
The role of DMA includes attending Court Repossession Hearings (generally Nenagh Court for this area) together with a Court Mentor who advises clients of the Court Process and a Duty Solicitor for borrowers who may not have their own legal representation. They advise too on options under the new statutory solutions of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 described briefly below.
The Personal Insolvency Act 2012 provides for a range of solutions to assist over indebted clients including the following;
Debt Relief Notice (DRN):- This is a notice from the courts stating you are unable to pay your debts. A DRN will only be given to persons with qualifying debts of €35,000 or less and with very limited assets e.g. you must not own your own home and you must also meet certain other conditions to be able to apply. These are available only through Approved Intermediaries (AI’s) approved by the Insolvency Service of Ireland and MABS including this service, have qualified AI's in situ to assist with this process. A Money Adviser will be able to advise if you may be eligible.
Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA):- A DSA, provided by a *Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) is an agreement reached with your creditors and approved by the courts. If successful, a DSA sets out a repayment plan for your unsecured debts over a period of up to five years, which can be extended to six years in certain circumstances if you agree. Again certain conditions called Eligible Criteria must be met. If you are unsure you can contact MABS or the ISI for more information.
Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA):- This again, provided by a *Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) is an agreement with your creditors and approved by the court. If successful, a PIA sets out a repayment plan for both your secured & unsecured debts over a period of up to six years but can be extended to seven years in certain circumstances if you agree. Again certain conditions called Eligible Criteria must be met and as above you may contact MABS or the ISI for further information.
*Personal Insolvency Practitioners (PIPS):- are members of the Insolvency Service of Ireland and advise clients on insolvency options as outlined above. Abhaile covers this for free by providing Vouchers to the value of €500.00 to cover necessary consultations to assess a borrowers situation. Vouchers may be availed of to assist with the PIP consultation.
Bankruptcy:- Bankruptcy is the option of last resort. It should be considered only after exploring all other options and after weighing up the consequences for your life and those of your family in years to come. Creditors can apply to make you Bankrupt or you can apply yourself. If you apply, you will need to show that you have made every effort available to you to improve your circumstances including applying for a DSA and/or a PIA referred to above.
In conclusion, MABS has 60 offices nationwide and in 2017 helped
- 40,000 people through face to face advice and through the National Helpline.
- 9,000 borrowers under the Abhaile Scheme
- 2,500 Legal Vouchers issued
- 5,000 homeowners in long term arrears via the DMAs

Contact Us
You can contact your local MABS offices as follows:
- Thurles – Phone 0761 07 2740 or email thurles@mabs.ie
- Nenagh – Phone 0761 07 2760 or email nenagh@mabs.ie
The Helpline No is 0761 07 2000 and is available from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm Mon. to Fri. Information can also be assessed at www.mabs.ie
MABS is funded by the Citizens Information Board (CIB)