Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

It is fair to say that the structure in place owes itself to history more than design, to be honest. Companies were set up and each service provider in MABS is a separate company which has its own board. That is the structure of MABS and historically it has been the structure of MABS, albeit the services are funded through and report to the Citizens Information Board. That changed probably four or five years ago. Up to then, they had been funded through the Department. However, the Comhairle legislation was amended to move responsibly for MABS to the CIB.

In fairness, this is something the Citizens Information Board is addressing - this applies to the outgoing board and prospectively the board that will be operating. The whole issue of trying to streamline governance arrangements is very much on its agenda. I am aware of work that has been under way - it has not yet got to the board - to look at a new governance model. The idea is to preserve the local delivery of services but provide for far more streamlined arrangements in terms of governance of the MABS companies. That is seriously advanced at this stage. A proposal will probably come to the Citizens Information Board in due course on the matter.