Róisín Shortall
Ceist:83 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the legislative priorities of her Department for the next session of Dáil Éireann; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24700/02]
Written Answers. - Legislative Programme.
I propose to introduce a number of legislative initiatives in 2003, and have prioritised three Bills for progression in the next Dáil session.
The Social Welfare Bill, 2003, will provide for implementation of social welfare changes to be announced in this week's budget other than increases in weekly rates of payments and PRSI changes. The latter will be included in the Social Welfare Bill, 2002, which will be presented to the House shortly.
The Money Advice and Budgeting Service Bill was presented to the House in March 2002. It will provide the legislative framework for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service – MABS – established under the auspices of my Department in response to problems of moneylending and over-indebtedness. The purpose of the Bill is to provide for a statutory basis for the service.
My Department has been directly involved in activities to tackle the problems of moneylending and over-indebtedness since the publication in 1988 of the Combat Poverty Agency's report, "Moneylending and Low Income Families". One of the key responses to this research was the establishment of a number of local projects to provide advice on money management and budgeting to families and persons who were experiencing difficulty.
Currently, this Money Advice and Budgeting Service – MABS – includes 52 projects around the country each of which address the problems of moneylending and over-indebtedness through the provision of personalised and confidential advice. Projects can also avail of an arrangement with the local credit union to provide alternative sources of finance for their clients where they consider it is warranted. The MABS budget has grown from £260,000 – six projects – in 1992 to €8.7 million – 52 projects – in 2003.
The Civil Registration Bill, which is currently being drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, will provide a new legal framework for the registration of births, marriages and deaths. It will update the existing legislation, some of which dates back to the mid-19th century. The passing of this legislation is one element of the civil registration modernisation programme which is a joint project between my Department and the Department of Health and Children. The modernisation project also involves the development of a new organisation structure and business processes for the service and the introduction of modern technology.