The "It Makes Sense Loan"
National Traveller MABS welcomes the government initiative to address the lack of access to affordable loans for social welfare recipients. The "It Makes Sense loans" have been available in 30 credit unions, on a pilot basis but are now being rolled our nationally and will, it is hoped be available in all credit unions in Ireland.
The scheme makes short-term credit of between €100 and €2,000 available to social welfare recipients on a low-cost basis. The loans are provide an alternative to high-cost moneylenders. Speaking on RTÉ's News At One on July 25th, Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar said a pilot revealed that the vast majority of the loans were given for debts on bills or new courses. The success of the pilot was evident in the fact that over 96% of borrowers have repaid their loans in full. More than half of those using the scheme admitted to having previously used a moneylender while 22 per cent had been thinking about using a moneylender before they availed of the credit union loan. One of the main aspects of the scheme is that repayments are made by direct deductions from the borrowers social welfare payment. This takes the pressure off borrowers of making weekly repayments over the counter at the credit union. For further information on the " It Makes Sense Loans" visit their facebook page www.facebook.com/itmakessenseloan/or contact your local credit union. National Traveller MABS as always are here should you need any additional support. We can be contacted on 0761072230.