Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
324. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the number of Money Advice and Budgeting Service companies that have concluded service level agreements with the Citizens Information Board; if she will provide in tabular form the number of staff employed by MABS by office and county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33393/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, provides a high quality personal service to assist people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes and people living on social welfare payments. In 2013, the Citizens Information Board has been allocated some €47.4 million from the exchequer of which some €19 million has been assigned to MABS and €14.6 million has been assigned to the Citizens Information Services. The corresponding allocation to the Citizens Information Board in 2012 was €46.8 million of which some €18.3 million was allocated to MABS and €14.6 million for the Citizens Information Services.
The Citizens Information Board is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate governance arrangements are in place in relation to the expenditure of these public funds. It is essential that this significant amount of public monies is carefully monitored and properly accounted for, in terms of financial accountability, effective performance and excellent delivery of quality services to the customer and taxpayer, who ultimately funds these services. The Board is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate governance arrangements are in place in relation to the expenditure of these public funds.
An important element of assessing accountability is through the formal arrangement of Service Level Agreements. These contracts are agreed by the governing board of the Citizens Information Board and cover standard items such as service delivery, governance, financial controls, HR practices, reporting, evaluation, monitoring etc. This enables the Board to ensure that excellent service and best value is achieved across the wide range of services it provides.
With regard to the 2013 Agreement 42 CIS companies, the Citizens Information Phone Service, the Sign Language Interpreting Service and 28 MABS companies have to date signed a Service Agreement with the Citizens Information Board. The Citizens Information Board is engaging with the remaining companies to resolve outstanding matters and following consultation with the MABS and CIS network is bringing forward a longer term contract to govern the period to end 2016. I am confident this will secure the agreement of all and would like to assure the Deputy that there is no risk to service delivery and all parties are fully engaged in ensuring that the excellent service to those most in need continues as required.
There are 205.29 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff in the local Money Advice and Budgeting Service with an additional 12 WTE temporary Resource Money Advisors assigned to MABS early 2012 for a 2 year contract. In addition to these, there are 16 temporary posts assigned to the Approved Intermediary Service, for the purposes of processing debt relief notices under the new Insolvency Service of Ireland, of which 15 have a one year contract and 1 has a two year contract. The following table outlines the WTE staff by office/county.
|
MABS COMPANY |
Total WTE Staff |
Resource Money Advisors |
|
Arklow |
3 |
0.5 |
|
Athlone |
2.5 |
|
|
Ballymun |
5.42 |
0.5 |
|
Blanchardstown |
4.5 |
0.5 |
|
Bray |
4.5 |
0.5 |
|
Carlow |
5.02 |
|
|
Cavan |
4 |
|
|
Charleville |
3 |
|
|
Clare |
4 |
|
|
Clondalkin |
5 |
|
|
Cork |
6.8 |
1 |
|
Drogheda |
3 |
|
|
Dublin 10 & 20 |
4.9 |
0.5 |
|
Dublin 12 Area |
4.3 |
|
|
Dublin North City |
4 |
|
|
Dublin North East |
3.5 |
0.5 |
|
Dublin South East |
3.6 |
|
|
Dún Laoghaire |
4 |
0.5 |
|
Dundalk/Oriel |
3 |
|
|
Dundrum/Rathfarnham |
4.1 |
|
|
Fingal (North County) |
4.5 |
0.5 |
|
Finglas/Cabra |
5 |
|
|
Kerry |
7 |
|
|
Kildare |
6.35 |
0.5 |
|
Kilkenny |
4 |
|
|
Laois |
3 |
0.5 |
|
Leitrim |
2.5 |
|
|
Liffey South West |
5.2 |
|
|
Limerick |
5 |
1 |
|
Longford |
2.5 |
|
|
Meath |
4 |
|
|
Monaghan |
3 |
|
|
Mullingar |
2.5 |
|
|
National Traveller |
3 |
|
|
North Cork |
4.4 |
|
|
North Donegal |
5 |
|
|
North Galway |
3 |
0.5 |
|
North Mayo |
3 |
|
|
North Tipperary |
3 |
0.5 |
|
Offaly |
3 |
|
|
Roscommon |
3 |
|
|
Sligo |
3 |
0.5 |
|
South Donegal |
2 |
|
|
South Galway |
7 |
0.5 |
|
South Mayo |
3 |
0.5 |
|
South Tipperary |
5.6 |
|
|
Tallaght |
4 |
1 |
|
Waterford |
4.9 |
1 |
|
West Cork |
3 |
0.5 |
|
West Donegal |
2 |
|
|
West Waterford |
2.2 |
|
|
Wexford |
4.5 |
|
|
Total WTE Staff |
205.29 |
12 |
* The 12 temporary Resource Money Advisors (RMAs) were assigned to MABS early 2012 for a 2 year contract.
For clarification, RMAs are not included in the total wte staff in the middle column, but are separately identified in the third column.
Note: The above figures do not include MABS NDL(18) or National Traveller MABS(8)
