Written Answers Nos. 48-55
48. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in determining an application for domiciliary care allowance in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who applied in February 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16006/15]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 17th February 2015. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 12 weeks to process an application for DCA.
49. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will review and reverse the proposal to abolish the local companies for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (details supplied), the proposal which is to replace service with a number of new quangos, based either regionally or nationally, in view of the fact that this is a further attack on local democracy and active citizenship, and as a result of which decisions will be taken on customers' needs at a level far removed and with no regard for local need; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16007/15]
View answer51. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the changes which relate to the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and Citizens Information Board; if these changes will impinge on the local control of service; and if the service in each local will now be independent. [16019/15]
View answer55. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on concerns regarding changes that are being made to the valuable Money Advice and Budgeting Service (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16077/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 49, 51 and 55 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.
50. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if two recent deductions of €28 from weekly payment under the jobseeker's scheme in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare can be refunded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16012/15]
View answerThe person concerned has been requested to provide a letter from his employer advising if he has an entitlement to and received payment for two recent bank holidays as provided for under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. To date the person concerned has not provided this information but once it is provided a review of the two deductions of €28.00 will then be undertaken.
52. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the Pensions Act 1990 in respect of the Electricity Supply Board Retired Staff Association (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16037/15]
View answerI am glad to say that earlier this year, I introduced regulations and approved amendments to guidance issued by the Pensions Authority to provide for the recognition by the trustees of a pensions scheme of groups representing the interests of pensioners and deferred members of pension schemes. These changes mean that all groups representing the interests of the various categories of pension scheme membership are treated the same in the context of the provisions in the Pensions Act.
You might note that pension schemes in Ireland are generally set up under trust and, in that context the trustees of a pension scheme are required to act in the best interest of all scheme members.
In consideration of these changes, I raised the issue of access to the industrial machinery of the State with my colleague, the Minster for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I can advise that the industrial relations system in Ireland is voluntary in nature both as regards access to the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. I would expect that any group that is recognised for the purposes of collective representation with the trustees of a pension scheme could seek to engage voluntarily with the enterprise involved in talks or trade dispute with its employees.
53. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the importance of allowing pensioners to have access to the industrial relations and arbitration machinery of the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16075/15]
View answer54. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on pensioner organisations (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16076/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 54 together.
Earlier this year, I introduced regulations and approved an amendment to guidance issued by the Pensions Authority to provide for the recognition by the trustees of a pensions scheme of groups representing the interests of pensioner and deferred members of pension schemes. These changes mean that all groups representing the interests of the various categories of pension schemes membership are treated the same in the context of the provisions in the Pensions Act.
You might note that pension schemes in Ireland are generally set up under trust and, in that context the trustees of a pension scheme are required to act in the best interest of all scheme members.
In consideration of these changes, I raised the issue of access to the industrial machinery of the State with my colleague, the Minster for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I can advise that the industrial relations system in Ireland is voluntary in nature both as regards access to the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. I would expect that any group that is recognised for the purposes of collective representation with the trustees of a pension scheme could seek to engage voluntarily with the enterprise involved in talks or trade dispute with it employees.
