Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While I understand that the committee has not yet published its report, I saw a draft copy of it and thank the committee for its engagement with this matter. At the outset I would like to highlight again how the Citizens Information Board, CIB, has repeatedly stated that the restructured governance arrangements will result in no job losses for those working in local services, no diminution of existing services, no closures of service delivery points and no disruption for those who use them.

Indeed, it is my understanding that the board of CIB is committed to supporting the long-term delivery of services at a local level and wishes to see all services extended on a consistent basis to existing locations and, perhaps, new ones over time. However, in doing so, the board is obliged to ensure that it and its service delivery partners comply with standards as set out in the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and meet Comptroller and Auditor General requirements. This is the context in which the board has made its decision to restructure the governance arrangements of local CIS and MABS companies. I accept the bona fides of the board in its decision.

The CIB undertook a series of regional consultations with stakeholders this month to discuss key aspects of implementing the new model. These were attended by 127 representatives of local company boards and 223 representatives of management, staff and volunteers of local services. Each session was chaired by an independent facilitator. Attendees had an opportunity to raise their concerns about service delivery under the new model. The board will host further sessions over the summer on key areas such as the role of volunteers, the delivery of consistent high quality services countrywide and the preservation of the fundamentally valuable local community focus and support ethos within the new regional model.

The board has also established an implementation group with cross-sectoral representation to assist in the governance reorganisation and committed to carrying out a full cost-benefit analysis of the 16-company model. I am satisfied that the board is making efforts to allay the concerns of staff, boards and volunteers and genuinely seeking to preserve the strong community ethos of services and embed these important values as it transitions to its new governance model.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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