Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs in respect of the announcement in Budget 2009 to integrate the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office of Social Inclusion within her Department, the date by which this will be done; if this will require legislation; the date by which this will be published; the savings that this is expected to accrue to the Exchequer in 2008, 2009 and 2010; the basis for those savings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42117/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's decision to integrate the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office for Social Inclusion within the Department of Social and Family Affairs was informed by the findings of a review of the Combat Poverty Agency which was undertaken on foot of a Government Decision on the 6th of June 2007. The Department is working with the Board of the Agency in finalising a plan for the smooth integration of the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office for Social Inclusion. It is planned to hold meetings and workshops with the staff in both organisations before the plan is finalised.

As the Combat Poverty Agency is established under statute legislation changes will be required to alter its status. I intend bringing forward legislative provisions to effect those changes at the Committee stage of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2008. It is proposed that the legislative provisions will be brought into effect by way of a Commencement Order and it is envisaged that a period up to July 2009 will be required to complete the integration arrangements.

Arrangements regarding the position of the Agency staff will be finalised following discussions with the Department of Finance, the staff and their union representatives. Other work will involve winding up the business of the agency including finalising accounts and transferring assets.

The integration of the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office for Social Inclusion will mean a better use and allocation of funds in relation to supporting the Government's anti-poverty and social inclusion strategies. There will be savings resulting from the integration, for example, in terms of accommodation and support services. The extent and timing of savings will be identified and dealt with as part of the implementation process which is underway.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, in relation to the announcement in Budget 2009 to assign the Money Advice and Budgeting Service to Citizens Information Board, the date by which this will be done; if this will require legislation; the date by which this will be published; the savings that this is expected to accrue to the Exchequer in 2008, 2009 and 2010; the basis for those savings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42118/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is the main Government funded service which provides assistance to people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. There are 53 independent companies with voluntary boards of management and over 240 money advice staff operating the local services throughout the country. Almost €18 million has been provided in 2008 to assist the MABS in dealing with its workload and a similar allocation will be provided for the service in 2009.

Last year, MABS provided services to over 12,400 new clients throughout the country. To date this year over 13,800 new clients have approached the service. The MABS National Telephone Helpline which was launched in October 2007 has dealt to date with approximately 10,000 calls.

The MABS provides a high quality personal service to the public and makes a difference to people's lives. However, it has been recognised for some time that the service needs a proper legislative basis and structure. The Programme for Government envisaged that such a new structure for the MABS would involve strong national leadership and would maximise the current local voluntary involvement in the service.

The Government has decided that this can best be achieved by placing the MABS with the Citizens Information Board. The MABS and Citizens Information Centres complement each other well as both are involved in providing information, advice and advocacy services to the public. In addition, the Citizens Information Board has a long association with the MABS at both national and local level and was involved in establishing some of the original MABS pilot projects.

It is not envisaged that significant savings or additional costs will arise on the assignment of the provision of the MABS to the Citizens Information Board. Rather, the intention is, in line with the Programme for Government, to provide strong management support to the local voluntary companies in the provision of a high quality service to meet the needs of people encountering debt difficulties in today's society. However, cost efficiencies will be realised in the medium to longer term through the integration of support services such as administration and IT.

The legislative provisions to give effect to the proposed changes are contained in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 which is before Dáil Éireann at present. It is proposed that the legislative provisions will be brought into effect by way of a Commencement Order and that a six months period up to July 2009 will be required to complete the administrative arrangements for the transfer of responsibility for the MABS to the Citizens Information Board.