Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of State agencies identified for abolition or merger in his Department; the number of agencies which have been merged or abolished to date in his Department; the total net savings which have been made in respect of each State agency arising from its merger or abolition in his Department; the likely date for merger or abolition and the reason for the delay in respect of each State agency which has not already been merged with another State agency or abolished in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3010/11]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department. On 1 July 2009, the Combat Poverty Agency integrated with the Office for Social Inclusion within this Department to form the Social Inclusion Division. From 1 May 2010, responsibility for the Social Inclusion Division transferred to the Department of Community, Equality & Gaeltacht Affairs. Responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) transferred to the Citizens Information Board on 13 July 2009.

It was not envisaged that significant savings would arise on the assignment of responsibility for MABS to the Citizens Information Board. Rather the intention was, in line with the Programme for Government, to provide strong management support to the local voluntary MABS companies in the provision of a high quality service to meet the needs of people encountering debt difficulties. Cost efficiencies would be realised in the medium to longer term through co-location of premises and the integration of support services such as administration and IT.

The primary reason for the integration of the Combat Poverty Agency with the Office for Social Inclusion was not to achieve short-term savings, but rather to ensure that the strongest possible mechanisms were put in place to tackle poverty and social exclusion as recommended in the review of the Combat Poverty Agency.

It is not possible to quantify the total net savings which have been made arising from this integration; however, ongoing savings will arise in respect of board members' fees and as a result of the integration of support services such as combined personnel, payroll and ancillary services. Ongoing savings will also arise on account of the non-filling of a number of short-term temporary staff positions that ended in June 2009 and as a result of the redeployment of a small number of administrative and Human Resource support staff.

In accordance with the terms of the lease in place for the offices of the former Combat Poverty Agency, the Department will exercise its right to break out of the lease in March 2011. There will be no penalty for exercising this option and expected annual savings in respect of the facilities' costs are €228,000 (rent and car parking) and €50,000 (ancillary services). At present there are no further plans to abolish or amalgamate any of the other statutory bodies under the aegis of the Department.