John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will give the deputations an opportunity to answer some of the questions. One thing struck me when Mr. Lally was speaking. His comments brought home the unique nature of the services. Mr. Lally referred to Lily O'Doherty in Clondalkin. It is as if the citizens information services have developed in the context of the surrounding services and in the context of interaction with constituency offices of Deputies, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and so on. They have developed around the network of other services and those involved knew who to engage with and so on. Local knowledge was crucial. If we did not have such local knowledge, I am unsure whether the services would have been as effective. Mr. Lally referred to Lily O'Doherty and how she would go about her work, who she knew and how she knew where to go. All such local knowledge cannot easily be transferred. That is what makes the services unique.

I have no wish to go over the points made but I want to make a general observation. Some general points arise and I want to recap on comments Mr. Lally made. At the end of his contribution he referred to moving towards integration of services at county level and that it was not too late.

Mr. McGuane referred to how we have highlighted the potential for integration of service delivery between the citizens information services and MABS as a means of strengthening governance arrangements and generating greater efficiencies while maintaining the community ethos. As general comment, I see this manifested in three blocks one of which is the current restructuring proposal, as proposed by the Citizens Information Board. There is another side to the coin. It came across clearly last week from MABS representatives. MABS representatives maintain things are working well and wonder about the need for any change. Mr. McGuane indicated that perhaps there should be a merging of MABS and the Citizens Information Board organisations on a county-wide basis. Three themes have emerged from the discussions: the current restructuring proposal by the Citizens Information Board, the do-nothing option - some people have indicated they are happy with the service, and the possible merging of citizens information services and MABS on a county-wide basis.

Have the representatives from the citizens information services developed proposals for closer working arrangements with MABS? Have any discussions along these lines taken place? Do the representatives clearly see a need for restructuring? Is it feasible to leave the status quo? The presentations this morning referred to the need for some new model. This view has not always come from MABS and MABS representatives have not always said the same. I say as much because these are emerging themes rather than specific points. The representatives might wish to comment on them.

The witnesses can take the answers in any order they wish. Mr. Lally opened the discussion. Does he want to take the questions relevant to him? Ms Barry or Ms Conefrey may wish to contribute as well and we will go on from there.