Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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196. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on the engagement of his Department with the project (details supplied) aimed at strengthening the role of civil society organisations which provide access to information, advice and active help (free legal aid) services to citizens with regards to their rights, with a view to creating a European network of citizens advice organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17335/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body, under the aegis of my Department, that is responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services.

The National Association of Citizens Information Services (NACIS) had been a Partner in the Triple A (Access to information, Advice and Active help) project which aimed to spread a Citizens Information & Advice model to the Western Balkans and Turkey since it's foundation in 2013.

This EU Funded project, led by the European Citizens Action Service in Brussels, aimed to support Access to information, Advice and Active help for citizens in the region and seeks to promote the role of civil society in giving citizens a voice and influencing government policy on key reforms and their implementation.

The principal role of NACIS included organising Study Visits for pilot projects and providing mentoring support to projects in Bosnia and Albania. As well as transferring knowledge on the Irish model and presenting and facilitating various workshops. NACIS has also had input into the Triple A Guidelines and Strategy, Calls for Proposals, Quality Standards, selection of pilot projects, creation of work-plan templates and mentoring documents and has participated in Steering Group Meetings with Triple A Partners.

NACIS is no longer in existence and this project concluded in 2016 at a conference in Brussels when the main project outcomes and achievements were presented.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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197. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on the engagement of his Department, or the engagement of any agency under the aegis of his Department with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) accreditation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17336/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) incorporates a form of accreditation which provides a framework for assessing performance in an organisation. There is no record of my Department having engagements in relation to this framework. The Department has accreditation from the National Standards Authority of Ireland and from international frameworks such as ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and ISSA (International Social Security Association) in a wide range of areas.

The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal.

Beginning in 2012 and concluding in 2016, the Citizens Information Board and all companies then funded by the Citizens Information Board completed the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Gold Star Service Excellence Programme. This programme was a customised entry-level quality programme which had a strong focus on customers, customer consultation and customer satisfaction.

The other statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department have not had engagements with the EFQM accreditation.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.