Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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241. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52078/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has statutory responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and the Citizens Information Services (CIS) decided, on 15th February 2017, to restructure the governance arrangements of these services.

The decision taken reduces the number of local CIS and MABS company boards from ninety three to a sixteen regional boards structure, comprising eight CIS boards and eight MABS boards. CIB has taken this operational decision following years of analysis of options and a detailed consultation period with all stakeholders on the need for a more streamlined governance model. The changes are being made at local company board level only. The valuable work carried out by employees and volunteers working in CIS services and employees of MABS services will continue as heretofore.

The staff and boards throughout the CIS & MABS network have been assured by CIB that there will be no changes to the terms and conditions of staff, no change to the level of service delivered to clients and no reduction in the level of investment in the services across the country.

The Citizens Information Board has been allocated €57.410 million to fund its activities and that of its service delivery partners for 2018. I understand from CIB that local services have not yet been notified of their funding allocation for 2018 so I am unaware of the funding cut referred to by the Deputy.

Carlow MABS is not included in the initial phase of the restructuring process. As the restructuring process progresses, all CIS and MABS services will be requested to commence gathering the information required to facilitate what is known as the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employees) (TUPE) process for employees and the transfer of business assets/liabilities.

It is the intention of CIB to provide information and support through the transitional period, and in this regard, information sessions are being organised for Chairpersons of local services, providing an opportunity for Chairpersons to seek clarifications on the process of transfer to the new regional companies and wind up of the existing companies.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.