The struggle by the state-supported Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) to cope with the number of problem debtors has presented an opportunity for independent, for-profit debt consultants to enter the market.

The flood of borrowers seeking help to manage their debts as the recession bites is providing new opportunities for underemployed financial advisers and other industry experts to ply their trade, especially to middle-class clients prepared to pay for a quick resolution to their arrears.

Only two weeks ago, Mabs announced it would be adding 19 advisers to its staff of just over 250 to help deal with a surge of demand this year, as the numbers of people seeking its debt advice and management service has doubled.

But the new private counsellors say Mabs isn't equipped to cope with the growing number of middle-income cases, people who have both the motivation and the money to pay, according to one counsellor who asked not to be named.

They join a number of debt collectors already working on behalf of banks to recover bad debts.

"There is an opening for people who need independent advice and are prepared to pay for it. I have no interest in social welfare recipients," said Liam O'Brien, a former banker with 20 years' experience who runs One2One Debt Consultants in Dublin. "They have liquidity problems but their accountants don't want to know; they just want to prepare receipts at the end of the year."

O'Brien charges €250 per meeting, with the first two meetings at half-price. He says most cases would cost €500 "all in".

One aspect of the private debt consultants' approach is that they go against Mabs' advice that it is better to approach your lender early if you run into financial trouble – "a myth", said O'Brien.

"The lender is the enemy. Why go in with your hands up?" said Peter Mitchell, former chief executive of specialist lender Seniors Money. "It's better to talk to someone independent."

One Mabs counsellor told the Sunday Tribune that there were people coming into Mabs "who had no business being there" and "that there is a need for middle income debt management".

However, the organisation is wary of private debt consultants. In March, it lobbied the Department of Social and Family Affairs and acting financial regulator Mary O'Dea to curb their activities, saying "people in financial difficulties may not fully understand the services provided".