Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 275: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the date of establishment of money advice and budgeting service; the purpose and role of this body; the number of members of the board of this body; the number of whom are appointed by himself; the person by whom the remaining board members are appointed; the expenditure of this body for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5351/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) provides assistance to people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. The MABS was initiated in 1992 when the Budget provided for a special allocation of €330,000 (£260,000) for the establishment of five Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) pilot projects around the country. Since 1992 the service has grown, and there are now 53 independent companies nationwide with voluntary boards of management and with money advice staff of 240 who operate the service. Membership of the voluntary boards of management of the MABS companies is a matter for the local community stakeholders.

Many voluntary and statutory bodies, such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the credit unions, work closely with the service at local level. The Department provides funding and is responsible for policy development and the financial administration of the MABS. For 2008, almost €18 million has been provided to fund the service. A National Advisory Committee advises the Department in relation to the MABS. This is an informal forum which is chaired by a Principal Officer in the Department. Participants in the forum are selected from time to time by the local MABS stakeholders. It includes representatives from the voluntary boards of management, staff of the MABS, the Citizens Information Board, the Irish League of Credit Unions and other interests in the service.

Expenditure on the MABS for each of the past five years is detailed in the table below.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 276: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the date of establishment of the social welfare benchmarking and indexation group; if this group is still in existence; the purpose and role of this group; the number of members of the board of this group; the number of whom are appointed by himself; the person by whom the remaining board members are appointed; the expenditure of this group for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5352/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Social Welfare Benchmarking and Indexation Working Group was established under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), in late 2000 and met for the first time on 17 December 2000. The group comprised some 16 members drawn from government departments and social partners. It was chaired by an independent chairperson, Professor Kieran Kennedy, former director of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The members of the working group were nominated by their respective organisations. The secretariat was provided by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.

The terms of reference of the group were to:

i.examine the issues involved in developing a benchmark for adequacy of adult and child social welfare payments, including the implications of adopting a specific approach to the ongoing up-rating or indexation of payments, having regard to their long-term economic, budgetary, PRSI contribution, distributive and incentive implications, in light of trends in economic, demographic and labour market patterns; and

ii.examine the issue of relative income poverty.

The group operated in parallel with the wider review of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) in accordance with the terms of the PPF. While the group was not a formal element of this wider review, it was intended that its work would help to advance consideration of the theme of income adequacy and income poverty measurement. The group concluded its work and produced its final report in September 2001. No expenditure has arisen in connection with the group in the past five years.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 277: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the date of establishment of the social inclusion consultative group; if this group is still in existence; the purpose and role of this group; the number of members of the board of this group; the number of whom are appointed by himself; the person by whom the remaining board members are appointed; the expenditure of this group for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5353/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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A review of the National Anti Poverty Strategy (NAPS) was undertaken in 2001/2002 in line with a commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The revised NAPS that emerged from the review, Building an Inclusive Society, provided for new institutional arrangements to monitor its implementation. This included the setting up of the Social Inclusion Consultative Group which comprised some 25 members selected by their respective parent organisations. These were drawn from the social partners, the community and voluntary sector, government departments and agencies, including the Combat Poverty Agency, the Equality Authority and the Economic and Social Research Institute. The Group was co-chaired by the Office for Social Inclusion and the Department of the Taoiseach. The main task of the Group was to advise the newly established Office for Social Inclusion on implementation of the revised NAPS. The group met twice a year in each of the years 2003 to 2006. It incurred no expenditure other than administrative costs.

Towards 2016, published in June 2006, provides for a streamlined approach to monitoring and reporting progress on social inclusion policies across government departments, in relation to the agreement itself, the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 and the social inclusion elements of the National Development Plan 2007-2013. A Steering Group established under Towards 2016 with representatives of the social partners and government departments has overall responsibility for monitoring implementation of all aspects of the social partnership agreement and the strategic plans. One outcome of this streamlined approach is that the functions of the Social Inclusion Consultative Group have been subsumed within the Towards 2016 Steering Group. As a result, the Consultative Group ceased to exist from September 2006.