Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 15 of 1 March 2007, the expected number of personal advocates who will be employed in the new personal advocacy service under the Citizens Information Board; the locations of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15307/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The introduction of a personal advocacy service is provided for in the Citizens Information Act, 2007. The Act has as its primary purpose the amendment of the Comhairle Act, 2000, to assign additional and enhanced functions to the Citizens Information Board, formerly Comhairle, which operates under the aegis of my Department, to enable it to introduce a personal advocacy service to individuals, in particular those with a disability. The service will assist the individuals concerned in identifying and understanding their needs and options and assist them in securing their entitlements to social services. Social services are broadly defined and include health, social welfare, education, family support, housing, taxation, citizenship, consumer matters, employment and training, equality, asylum and immigration.

The development of advocacy services remains a priority for my Department and in this regard additional funding of €1.9m has been provided for the Citizens Information Board in 2007 for the development of a personal advocacy service for people with disabilities and for the implementation of the Disability Sectoral Plan.

The Personal Advocacy Service will be initially located in Dublin. When the service is well established, it is anticipated that advocates will be located in a number of key highly populated areas around the country. However, it is not possible at this stage to give estimates of the number of advocates to be employed.

An organisational structure is currently been developed by the Board to meet the needs of the Personal Advocacy Service. In addition, negotiations and discussions between my Department, the Department of Finance and the Board are ongoing in relation to these structures and the staffing resources required for the provision of the service. It is envisaged that structures and staffing resources will be in place to enable the new service to be up and running in early 2008.