Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. This is a prime example of putting the cart before the horse. There was no consultation with the people involved in the community welfare service, with the end users or with anyone else. Where is there a copy of the report of the core functions of the health service? Does the Minister realise that some people who implement this scheme have not yet seen the report? There was no negotiation with the trade unions involved.

Is there someone in the Department hell bent on subsuming the community welfare service into that Department? Someone wants it in that Department come hell or high water and I want to know why. When will the Minister consult with those who deliver the service and service users? Will the service continue to be delivered locally? The community welfare officers knew everyone locally and exercised discretion. They have built up a personal relationship with many of the users of the service. It will now be put in the Minister's Department, where discretion is often frowned upon.

Can the Minister guarantee the special nature and the ethos of the service? Can he guarantee that its efforts to alleviate social distress will not be curtailed or frustrated by his Department? Will he consider strengthening the supplementary allowance legislation to enshrine its ability to respond to the needs of users? Such a feature is not characteristic of schemes administered and controlled by the Department. The Labour Party is deeply concerned about this scheme as it was developed by the late Frank Cluskey and it was used by people in extreme difficulties. When it enters the Department, will the dead paw of bureaucracy abolish the discretion that currently exists?

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