Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2024
393. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection when employees in the Citizens Information Centre will receive approved pay rises given that its sister service, MABS, has had pay rises in place since 2022, even though both are funded by the same organisation, the Citizens Information Board; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8043/24]
View answerThe Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection, with responsibility for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice) and advocacy on a wide range of public and social services.
CIB provides some services directly to the public and funds and supports a number of different Service Delivery Companies to provide services on its behalf. These Service Delivery Companies are not homogenous and provide a broad range of very different supports and services on behalf of CIB Their structure, staffing levels and service delivery models also vary significantly between different Service Delivery Companies. The Citizens Information Service (CIS) and MABS as well as the range of other Service Delivery Companies are entirely independent of each other and provide very different services.
I absolutely recognise and value the essential work carried out by staff of the CIS and their dedication to their role in ensuring that people have access to quality and independent information, advice and advocacy services across the country.
My Department allocates annual Exchequer funding to CIB to deliver its services and the services of its Service Delivery Companies, including the CIS companies. However, it is important to point out that employees of the CIS are not employees of my Department nor are they public servants. They are employees of independent companies that provide important services to CIB, which are delivered under a Service Level Agreement between each company and CIB.
In July 2023, as part of the Estimates process, a funding request for 2024 was submitted to my Department, which included additional funding for an 11% pay increase for employees of the CIS. My Department understands that this followed a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) process that directly involved both SIPTU and the CIS Employers Group. There was no involvement of CIB in the WRC process. Neither was my Department aware of this pay request in advance.
It is important that any pay requests, which impact important services, are carefully considered well in advance and have the involvement of all relevant stakeholders from early in the process. My Department has relayed this to CIB and encouraged further engagement on this issue by CIB, the CIS Employers Group and CIS staff representatives.
