Ms Geraldine Gleeson:

Some of our local offices are operating the Intreo system, about which members will have heard. What is happening in the offices is that they are operating as a team when a person comes in through the door; there is complete co-operation at the initial stage which is cutting down the number of SWA claims. There is much co-operation, but that is only in Intreo offices, but they are being rolled out progressively.

In terms of the issues involved, there are pockets around the country. There would have been issues about the level at which a decision-maker was available in the community welfare service. In some areas the decision-maker would have been the community welfare officer but in others, particularly for a negative decision, it would have been the superintendent. I think that was an issue which emerged following the integration. In the pockets where the decision-maker used to be the superintendent, there were some delays. As I understand it, most of the issues involved have been ironed out and things are working much more smoothly but delays developed and that was the reason.