Submissions 2024
Budget 2025: A Citizens Information Board review
This document considers Budget 2025 in the context of CIB's Pre-Budget Submission, which was based on the feedback from our frontline services - Citizens Information Services (CISs), Citizens Information Phone Service (CIPS), the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), and the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS). We review the new measures introduced in the context of the concerns highlighted in our Pre-Budget Submission.
Budget
2025: A Citizen Information Board review 
CIB Submission to the Department of Health: Public Consultation on Health and Social Care Services and Supports for Older People
This is a response to the Department of Health’s public consultation on health and social care services for older people on behalf of the Commission on Care for Older People. Our submission responds to questions on information and communication, access, quality, affordability, and suitability of health and social care services as well as questions covering home care services, workforce regulation, safeguarding, technology, funding, and unpaid care.
CIB
Submission to the Department of Health: Public Consultation on Health and
Social Care Services and Supports for Older People (November 2024) CIB
Submission to the Department of Health: Public Consultation on Health and
Social Care Services and Supports for Older People (November 2024) 
Pre-Budget Submission 2025
The submission profiles the most significant and regularly occurring issues raised by Citizens Information Services (CISs). These are grouped into three overarching areas: work and welfare; disability, illness and caring; and housing supports. MABS concerns relating to financial inclusion, housing, and energy poverty are also highlighted. We acknowledge the positive impact of the measures provided by Government in recent budgets to alleviate pressures on households acutely impacted by sustained levels of inflation. However, we note that services continue to evidence that many people face significant financial hardship and struggle to meet increasing housing, food and energy costs. We suggest that the broadly positive macro-economic outlook provides Government with an opportunity to move beyond ad-hoc provision of supplementary budgetary measures towards an approach that embeds greater support into the system.
Pre
Budget Submission 2025 Pre
Budget Submission 2025
Energy Poverty Action Plan (May 2024)
CIB welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the consultation by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on a revised Energy Poverty Action Plan. Citizens Information Services (CISs) deal with considerable query levels relating to fuel and energy costs and related support schemes – 27,465 Fuel Allowance queries in 2023. CISs and MABS repeatedly highlight the fact that, while high fuel prices and related heating costs affect everyone, low-income households fare worst because a higher percentage of their disposable income is required for this purpose. Energy poor households have the lowest income levels and have issues with the quality of their housing. While income and fuel poverty require different policy instruments, policies need to address income and energy efficiency inequalities simultaneously.
Energy
Poverty Action Plan (May 2024) Energy
Poverty Action Plan (May 2024)
Green Paper on Reform of Disability Payments in Ireland (April 2024)
While the proposals for disability payments reform, outlined in the Green Paper, will not go ahead given the significant concerns raised in the consultation process, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed that the submissions prepared by organisations in response to the consultation process will inform the broader view of disability supports and services under the new Cabinet Committee. CIB has regularly highlighted the need for disability-related payments and supports to address the range of difficulties and challenges faced by disabled people in living their lives on an equal basis to the rest of society. This submission provides feedback on issues with disability payments experienced by clients of CIB services --in 2023 over 57,000 queries to Citizens Information Services (CISs) related specifically to disability payments.
Green
Paper on Reform of Disability Payments in Ireland (April 2024) Green
Paper on Reform of Disability Payments in Ireland (April 2024)
Adult safeguarding in health and social care settings (April 2024)
CIB in its response to this Department of Health consultation supports the need to strengthen adult safeguarding in the health and social care sector in Ireland and to ensure that a culture of safeguarding is fostered within every service. The policy proposals aim to address a number of shortcomings in adults safeguarding policy and practice to date, including, in particular, the fact that current policy does not apply to much of the health and social care sector. Our submission emphasised the need for a response to adult safeguarding in the broader societal context as well as in the health and social care sector, improving public awareness of adult safeguarding concerns and hearing the voice of service users.
PDF
Onine Survey Form - Adult Safeguarding in Health and Social Care Settings - CIB
2 April 2024 Adult
safeguarding in health and social care settings (April 2024)
Courts Service Strategic Plan 2024-2027 (March 2024)
CIB made a submission in response to an invitation from the Courts Service to contribute to a consultation on their new strategy. Provision of information in relation to access to justice and related legal services continues to be an element of the work of CIB-funded services—the Citizens Information Services (CISs), the Citizens Information Phone Service (CIPS), the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and the National Advocacy Service (NAS) for people with disabilities. CIB contributes to the funding of the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) to provide information and advice clinics on legal matters in CISs. CISs received in the region of 40,000 queries in 2023 about justice matters – many relating to access to legal aid and advice — as well as queries related to issues such as separation and divorce, custody and access to children, maintenance, and domestic violence. This submission drew on the kinds of information queries handled by services and emphasised the core principle, that people’s ability to use the courts system to enforce the law is fundamental to their ability to access justice. Read more…
Courts
Service Strategic Plan 2024-2027 (March 2024) Courts
Service Strategic Plan 2024-2027 (March 2024)
Review of Housing Assessment and Allocation Guidelines for people with disabilities (March 2024)
The submission identified a range of issues in relation to the social housing needs assessment process in respect of disabled people, including a difficult to navigate application process. This review of the assessment and allocation guidelines being undertaken by the Housing Agency is central to the implementation of the housing strategy for disabled people. CIB drew on our research with DFI, ‘The Right Home’: Housing needs of people with disabilities to inform the submission.
Assessment
& Allocation Guidelines Review Housing Agency (March 2024) Assessment
& Allocation Guidelines Review Housing Agency (March 2024)
National Disability Strategy (February 2024)
CIB welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on a new Disability Strategy and acknowledges the progression of actions over the lifetime of the previous strategy. The development and implementation of a successor strategy is required to progress social inclusion and equality for people with disabilities. CIB has a role to assist and support individuals, in particular those with disabilities, in identifying and understanding their needs and options and in accessing their entitlements to social services. The submission proposes that actions that have not been achieved under the previous strategy be identified as priorities for action in the new NDS and are more closely aligned with the articles in the UNCRPD to assist in its implementation. Read more...
National
Disability Strategy (February 2024) National
Disability Strategy (February 2024)
Child Poverty Target (January 2024)
This CIB response to the national consultation on a Child Poverty Target focuses on the multiple and complex social and economic structural factors that contribute to ongoing child poverty. The evidence provided by CIB-funded services across the country demonstrates the ongoing financial challenges linked to costs of living generally, in particular energy costs and housing costs, which push some families into poverty. For many clients of these services, income shortfalls are exacerbated by problems in accessing public services, in particular, housing and health. The submission outlines the wide range of factors that can contribute to alleviating consistent poverty - these include social welfare payments, a Living Wage, timely access to public social housing and public child care provision.
Child
Poverty Target (January 2024) Child
Poverty Target (January 2024)