Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the number of offices, the delivery of more than 60 Intreo offices is a major logistical property project for the Department of Social Protection and the managers of this process, the OPW, which is responsible for the provision of the Department's property requirements, including refurbishment and fit-out works.

The new offices allow people more dignity and they can have more confidence in how their applications and claims will be dealt with. I am really anxious to see this rolled out as quickly as possible. We are in the hands of the OPW. I meet senior officials and the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW very regularly to discuss progress. The senior officials are on the case to get it across the line.

I am very ambitious about enhancing the services in Limerick, Cork and Waterford. When the service is better, people are afforded more privacy and dignity. It is much easier to exert controls and conduct reviews in the new offices. The Deputy will have seen the screens in the Ballyfermot office. People can now go to a reception desk and be directed to the correct queue or be given an appointment for the service they require. That is a modern service.

If one engages with an employment service, one should be able to sit down and discuss one's case. We have a two-tier system. We invite people to a general engagement to which they must show up, and they then get information on the services available from the Department. Believe it or not, there are a great many people who never expected to be unemployed and have no experience of dealing with the Department of Social Protection or claiming social welfare. Getting information about what is available to assist them can be really important and liberating in helping people to get back to work. Last year ten Intreo offices were delivered and work commenced on an additional two offices. This year we want to deliver 33 Intreo offices with the balance to be delivered in 2014. We experienced difficulties in a number of areas in 2012. We started with very significant industrial relations issues around the removal of glass from the integrated reception desk. People going into a social welfare office are like the rest of us. After very detailed discussions the issues went to arbitration and an independent assessment by health and safety consultants was required before they were resolved. The new offices are working out well. We have good security in social welfare offices. I have been to many of the offices and the staff seem very happy with how the reception desks are working. We have issues with wayleaves for the new and upgraded broadband network to support the Intreo delivery. We rent some offices and access issues can arise with landlords. High-level broadband capacity is essential. Expanding the use of data analytics will be key to allowing the Department to reduce fraud opportunities. In the new offices clients have their photographs taken and have an electronic signature for the public services card. When a client puts in a claim, the signature supplied when he or she signed on is there, but the nine most recent signatures come up as well. If the signature is dramatically different, the system will tell the staff. Let me give an example. If a client is registered with the Ballyfermot centre, and it appears that somebody who looks exactly like him or her has been signing on in Clondalkin or Blanchardstown, the IT system will tell us that. We get pictures of people who are smooth-shaven for one part of the week and have a bit of a beard for another part of the week; the system will confirm that the face is the same. These pop up quite regularly. Also, when some people find they must have their photograph taken, they suddenly have an urgent appointment elsewhere, and we wait for some of them to come back. There is a real opportunity to improve services using IT, because most people are utterly honest but there are a percentage who are not.

In the Intreo offices we must have more space. This is a critical issue in offices such as Limerick, Cork and Waterford. When we call people to the group interviews we need a room that will hold 20 people plus officials comfortably, as a couple of officials will explain what is on offer. We also need individual interview offices, so that when a person comes back later for an individual interview it can done with dignity and in privacy. We also need small interview rooms for investigating officers if there is to be a discussion about somebody whom the investigating inspectors wish to interview. These are the types of requirement we have.

The OPW reports regularly to us to help us achieve the targets. We also report to the Cabinet sub-committee. Much of the existing office space is less than satisfactory and one of the things on which we are engaged with the OPW is the securing of extra space. Obviously there is the added complexity of property management and the fact that the valuation process is handled by the OPW. We also have the issue of disability access. As time goes by we can improve the quality of information available in the general hall and reception area and people can access it at their own pace and in their own time. They can then discuss it in more detail with an official. Should Deputies wish - it may be of interest to some of them - we can give a list of the offices in the programme.