Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 255: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the sections and subsections of the Citizens Information Act 2007 that have not been commenced. [24698/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All sections of the Citizens Information Act, 2007 other than Section 4(a)(bb), which provides for the insertion of paragraph (bb) in section 7(1) of the Comhairle Act, 2000, and all of Section 5, which concerns the introduction of the Personal Advocacy Service, have been commenced. The post of Director of PAS was sanctioned by the Department of Finance in 2007 and the Citizens Information Board has completed the recruitment process. It is expected that the appointment will be made shortly.

The service will be launched when the Director has taken up the position, recruited the staff and is satisfied that the structures, resources and facilities are in place to allow the service to commence operation. In view of the recruitment process which will need to be undertaken for the additional posts, it is not possible at this time to give a definitive date on when the service will be launched and fully operational. The service will be subject to continuing review and additional posts, if required, will be sought as necessary depending on the level of demand for the service.

In the meantime the Citizens Information Board is continuing preparatory work in relation to the establishment of the new service and has identified accommodation to facilitate its immediate needs. On my recent visit to the Citizen Information Board I was briefed on the steps which they have taken to get the service underway and I am confident that once the staff are in place, the service will be available to those who require it.