The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council, the Low Pay Commission and the Social Welfare Tribunal.
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice) and advocacy services to citizens on a wide range of public and social services. The nationwide network of Citizens Information Services (CIS), funded and supported by CIB, provides free and impartial information to the public on a range of social and public services. The CIS also supports clients, including those who may have a disability, to act on their own behalf wherever possible (self-advocacy). CIS staff also advocate directly on behalf of clients, where required. The CIS has an overall staffing of approximately 300. The network is also supported by employment scheme workers and volunteers who are not assigned to advocacy casework. The CIS dealt with over 600,000 people in 2018. Of these, representative advocacy was delivered in approximately 2,600 cases, and almost 7,000 others required once-off advocacy intervention. In 2018, the overall allocation to cover services provided by the CIS was €14.9 million.
The CIB also funds and supports the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS), which provides an independent confidential and free advocacy service that works exclusively for adults with disabilities. In 2018, the NAS dealt with a total of 3,915* cases, of which 914 required full representative advocacy casework and 3,001 who received information, advice and once-off interventions. The budget allocation to the NAS was €3.1million in 2018 and the allocation for 2019 is €3.25million.
The other organisations under the aegis of my Department - namely the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council, the Low Pay Commission and the Social Welfare Tribunal do not have a statutory advocacy role.
*provisional figure, annual statistics not yet finalised.
