Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister clarify her comment that responsibility for all schemes, with the exception of the blind welfare allowance, will be transferred to the Department of Social and Family Affairs by September of this year? Is that subject to agreement at the discussions with the national industrial relations institutions? Will it happen anyway? One cannot hand over all the schemes if those who administer them do not come with the handover. If this plan goes ahead as the Minister has outlined, the Department of Social and Family Affairs will assume responsibility for a system that is creaking at the seams. I think the officials have described it as being past breaking point. I discussed the matter with community welfare officers at yesterday's meeting of the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs. I suggest that additional staff should be deployed from elsewhere in the Department to administer the community welfare service. Does the Minister envisage that will happen? She will be aware that the number of requests for community welfare services has increased by 85% in recent times. The number of community welfare officers has not changed, however. I accept that all Departments are subject to the embargo on public service recruitment. The queues at social welfare offices are growing, rather than decreasing. The number of people who wish to avail of the community welfare service is also increasing. When these responsibilities are transferred to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, it will have to deal with both problems. Will the Department be able to put in place the necessary staff? If the main social welfare service is failing, at least the back-up community welfare service should be able to give people what they need.

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