Many on low income facing a life-time in debt
Published: 31 May, 2007
East Belfast Sinn Féin representative Niall Ó Donnghaile has said that the recent figures released by Citizens Advice on the growing debt problem shows how devastating the problem has become for many people on low wages.
Mr Ó Donnghaile said,
"The recent figures released by Citizens Advice show that many people on low incomes who fall into debt face a lifetime of trying to pay their debt back.
"They found in some cases it could take over 70 years for people to pay back their outstanding debts due to the fact that most of those asking the charity for help with debt were on just half the average income with debts of over £13,000"
"This underlines the reality that many people are surviving on inadequate incomes, have little or no savings and are therefore at high risk of falling into debt. There must be a more proactive approach to this problem and must be stricter guidelines put in place on how much credit people are offered and more importantly their ability to pay it back"
"I would encourage anyone who has fallen into debt to seek advice straight away and any one who thinks they may be entitled to help to seek help and not to wait until find themselves in financial difficulties"
CRÍOCH
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