Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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43. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the proposed cuts to the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and the devastating impact cuts to this important localised resource will have on those who are in the depths of financial difficulty and avail of its services. [16619/15]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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65. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to revise the structure of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16349/15]

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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96. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason the Citizens Information Board has decided to make changes to the structures of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, which look set to increase the overall cost of providing the service for the taxpayer; the consequences of these changes on persons who use this service in their local community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16621/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 43, 65 and 96 together.

At the outset, I wish to assure the Deputies that the Government is totally committed to maintaining and strengthening MABS and its local delivery of services. While work is underway exploring how to optimise resources and governance arrangements to the greatest extent possible, I can also assure the Deputies that there will be no diminution of locally-provided services to the public, no closure of service locations, and no staff redundancies. In fact, the aim of this exploration is to ensure that any efficiencies and savings achieved in governance arrangements can be used to expand and enhance local service delivery.

The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for providing information, advice (including money and budgeting advice service) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. CIB delivers on this remit through a network of delivery partners which includes 51 local Money Advice and Budgeting Services (MABS) and 42 local Citizens Information Services (CIS). In 2015 the CIB has been allocated a budget of €46m of which some €17.9 million is allocated to the MABS network of companies.

There are over 600 permanent staff, approximately 200 scheme workers and an estimated 2,000 volunteers working for the 93 independent companies in the network (51 MABS and 42 CISs). Each of these companies has a separate voluntary Board of Management, comprising an average of over 9 members per Board resulting in a governance structure of over 800 people. The maintenance of such an unwieldy company and Board structure is no longer sustainable from an organisational or governance perspective and the resource effort required could otherwise be directed towards improved service delivery to citizens. Therefore, as part of the implementation of its Strategic Plan 2012-2015, CIB commissioned a feasibility study to identify options for dealing with this issue through greater organisational consolidation and/or integration of its delivery partners. This work was carried out by a company called Pathfinder and overseen by a Steering Group, comprising national representatives from MABS staff and Boards, Citizens Information Services staff and Boards, and staff from the Citizens Information Board. The work included extensive and comprehensive consultation with all stakeholders, including representatives of CIB's delivery partner services (MABS and CIS) at local level. It identified a number of options for consideration. Following on from this, the Board of CIB agreed to the establishment of a Design Group tasked with outlining and recommending possible new structural models. The Design Group includes members of the voluntary boards and staff of a number of the MABS and CIS services, together with representation from CIB management. Submissions were sought by CIB from the representatives of Boards and staff of MABS and CIS, to inform the deliberations of the Design Group.

The Design Group recently furnished a progress report on its deliberations to the CIB executive, which in turn communicated an update to its network of service delivery partners. The Design Group has identified, as an option for consideration by the Board of CIB in due course, that the 51 Boards of MABS companies and the 42 Boards of CIS companies could be consolidated across six (6) regions, resulting in six (6) independent MABS companies and Boards, and six (6) independent CIS companies and Boards, all reporting to the board of CIB. However, it is important to note that any such consolidation would be at the Board level only. All existing MABS offices would remain unaffected. Local service delivery and personnel would not be impacted and would continue as before. The proposed option could provide a structure to ensure that advice and input in relation to local issues continues and for networking to maintain local connections. It may be possible to take any savings that arise and use them for enhancing local service delivery or indeed offering additional services. It is also important to note that neither this option nor any alternative has yet been considered by the Board of CIB. Accordingly, no decisions have been made by the Board and no proposal has been formally made by it to my Department for consideration. It is expected that the Design Group’s proposed option, when further developed, will be formally submitted to the Board of CIB for its consideration.