Press release
Varadkar discusses future plans for Citizens Information Board following new appointments
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar is meeting the CEO and Chair of the Citizens Information Board (CIB) today after appointing a number of new members to its board.
The Minister is discussing services overseen and provided by the CIB such as financial support for people relying on welfare and low incomes, and money and budgeting advice more generally including those experiencing mortgage difficulties or other financial problems.
This is the Minister’s first formal meeting with CEO Angela Black and Chair Ita Mangan. It follows his appointment of seven new members to the board:
Speaking today, Minister Varadkar said:
“This government wants to ensure that our recovering economy works for everyone. We aim to achieve that by promoting an enterprise economy, making work pay, investing in public services, ensuring opportunity and a fair go for everyone."
“The Citizens Information service assists people with everyday queries about their rights and entitlements. As the country moves out of the economic crisis and back into recovery, it continues to be a vital lifeline to low income families or those on welfare, offering advice on money and household budgets, and where to seek assistance. It also plays a very important role for others having difficulties with mortgage repayments or other types of financial problems."
“I’m also delighted to welcome the new members to the Citizens Information Board, each of whom is highly qualified and will be a valuable addition to the Board.”
ENDS
The Citizens Information Board 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. Its remit includes a focus on vulnerable groups, in particular people with disabilities.
State funding of €50 million has been made available to the Citizens Information Board for 2016. From this allocation €20.6 million is made available to MABS, €14.8 million to Citizens Information Services (CIS’s) and the Citizens Information Phone Service (CIPS) and €3.9 million to advocacy services.
In recent days, the Minister made 7 new appointments to the Board on Wednesday 15 June 2016, in accordance with the arrangements for appointment to State Boards, which included a selection process conducted by the Public Appointments Service (PAS).
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body which supports the provision of information, advice (including money advice and budgeting) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. It provides some services directly to the public through the citzensinformation.ie website and a number of microsites and has a prominent link on the gov.ie homepage. It also produces a range of publications and periodicals.
It provides core developmental supports and directly funds and supports an extensive range of services through its delivery partners:
the MABS helpline
Governed by the Comhairle Act 2000, the Citizens Information Act 2007, the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, and the Social welfare and Pensions Act 2011, the Board comes under the remit of the Department of Social Protection.
The Citizens Information Board's mandate, as defined by the Acts, is to: