Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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324. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the number of Money Advice and Budgeting Service companies who have concluded service level agreements with the Citizens Information Board; if she will provide in tabular form the number of staff employed by MABS by office and county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33393/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service ( MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, provides a high quality personal service to assist people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes and people living on social welfare payments. In 2013, the Citizens Information Board has been allocated some €47.4 million from the exchequer of which some €19 million has been assigned to MABS and €14.6 million has been assigned to the Citizens Information Services. The corresponding allocation to the Citizens Information Board in 2012 was €46.8 million of which some €18.3 million was allocated to MABS and €14.6 million for the Citizens Information Services.

The Citizens Information Board is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate governance arrangements are in place in relation to the expenditure of these public funds. It is essential that this significant amount of public monies is carefully monitored and properly accounted for, in terms of financial accountability, effective performance and excellent delivery of quality services to the customer and taxpayer, who ultimately funds these services. The Board is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate governance arrangements are in place in relation to the expenditure of these public funds.

An important element of assessing accountability is through the formal arrangement of Service Level Agreements. These contracts are agreed by the governing board of the Citizens Information Board and cover standard items such as service delivery, governance, financial controls, HR practices, reporting, evaluation, monitoring etc. This enables the Board to ensure that excellent service and best value is achieved across the wide range of services it provides.

With regard to the 2013 Agreement 42 CIS companies, the Citizens Information Phone Service, the Sign Language Interpreting Service and 28 MABS companies have to date signed a Service Agreement with the Citizens Information Board. The Citizens Information Board is engaging with the remaining companies to resolve outstanding matters and following consultation with the MABS and CIS network is bringing forward a longer term contract to govern the period to end 2016. I am confident this will secure the agreement of all and would like to assure the Deputy that there is no risk to service delivery and all parties are fully engaged in ensuring that the excellent service to those most in need continues as required.

There are 205.29 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff in the local Money Advice and Budgeting Service with an additional 12 WTE temporary Resource Money Advisors assigned to MABS early 2012 for a 2 year contract. In addition to these, there are 16 temporary posts assigned to the Approved Intermediary Service, for the purposes of processing debt relief notices under the new Insolvency Service of Ireland, of which 15 have a one year contract and 1 has a two year contract. The following table outlines the WTE staff by office/county.

* The 12 temporary Resource Money Advisors (RMAs) were assigned to MABS early 2012 for a 2 year contract.

For clarification, RMAs are not included in the total wte staff in the middle column, but are separately identified in the third column.

Note: The above figures do not include MABS ndl (18) or National Traveller MABS(8)

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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325. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the role of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service in relation to the Personal Insolvency Act legislation; if she will provide MABS with any further resources to deal with the increased demand on its services as a result of the new legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33394/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes and people living on social welfare payments. In 2013, the Citizens Information Board has been allocated a budget of approximately €47.5 million of which some €19 million has been assigned to MABS. In 2012 the corresponding allocation was €46.8 million and €18.3 million respectively.

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service is made up of a network of 53 companies, which includes 51 local companies and 2 national companies MABS National Development Limited and National Traveller MABS. There are some 277 money advice staff employed across the MABS network.

The Personal Insolvency Act 2012 provides for a Debt Relief Notice for persons with no assets or income with unsecured debts of up to €20,000. With the assistance of an approved intermediary, a person may apply for a Debt Relief Notice which will allow for the full write-off of qualifying unsecured debt after a three year supervision period. The Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has the statutory responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) has agreed to my request that MABS be an approved intermediary for the purpose of processing applications for Debt Relief Notices. Those who can avail of Debt Relief Notices are typically part of the MABS core client cohort of people on low incomes in debt or in danger of falling into debt.

I am very pleased that sanction has been given for 16 temporary staff to be assigned to MABS for up to 2 years, to establish an Approved Intermediary Service as part of the new Insolvency Service. The CIB and MABS National Development Limited are working closely to ensure that the appropriate structures are in place within MABS to implement this new and important statutory role. Over 100 Money Advisers have been trained and accredited by the University of Ulster, and all MABS staff have been trained on the core elements of the Personal Insolvency legislation. An Approved intermediary Service Transition Unit has been established to provide a flexible national resource across services. CIB and MABS are also engaging proactively with the Insolvency Service to ensure that the Approved Intermediary Service is fully operational in time for the commencement of service.

I am satisfied that MABS will play an important role in the new arrangements for dealing with debt and will continue to provide a high quality personal service to assist people in overcoming their indebtedness and managing their finances.