Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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255. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide a comment in relation to a WRC case (details supplied) which states that Dublin South MABS was in breach of the Employment Equality Act and discriminated against a former employee on the grounds of age; and if the board for Dublin South MABS has the minimum required number of directors at present to oversee proper governance. [52495/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Citizens information Board (CIB), which falls under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection, is the statutory body with responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). The CIB provides funding to eight independent MABS companies which provide services to the public. A regional manager manages each company, and a Board of Directors oversees each company.

Each company is independently responsible for complying with all relevant legislation including in relation to company law, data protection, employment, and contract law in relation to their employees and others. Therefore, I cannot address this matter directly.

CIB supports the MABS companies in this area by providing access to external HR advice as part of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between CIB and the eight companies. However, individual HR matters are managed by each MABS company. The companies have their own grievance procedures in place and facilitate access to an Employee Assistance Service. The companies negotiate the terms and conditions of their staff members through an Employer-Union Forum with Unite the Union.

CIB has informed my Department that the decision of the WRC in this case has been brought to their attention and has been noted. CIB has also confirmed that there are currently sufficient registered directors in Dublin South MABS to meet the requirements of the Companies Registration Office and the charities Regulator /Revenue Commissioners in the context of the charitable status of Dublin South MABS.