Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I also recognise the problems described by Deputy Noonan. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. The community welfare service, CWS, administers the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, SWA, which includes rent supplement on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. In February 2006, the Government decided, inter alia, that the CWS should be transferred to the latter Department. Provision has been made in the Social Welfare and Pensions Acts 2007 and 2008 for the transfer of the administration of the SWA scheme from the HSE to the Department. These provisions are subject to a commencement order.

There are significant benefits to be achieved in transferring the administration of the SWA from the HSE to the Department. The Government's priority is to ensure that the transfer is managed in a well-planned and efficient manner, and that a high standard of service to the public is maintained during the transition. The transfer will alleviate pressure on the HSE and facilitate it in concentrating on its core health and personal social service functions. The transfer will not lead to any changes in the exercise of discretion by community welfare officers when dealing with applications for the supplementary welfare allowance. The flexibility and responsiveness which is inherent in the scheme will remain. This flexibility and responsiveness have been very much in evidence in the role community welfare officers have played in providing financial assistance to persons who have been affected by the recent flooding crisis. In Clonmel, the system certainly worked outstandingly well.

The current transfer proposals involve the community welfare service transferring to the Department initially as a separate branch with its own management structure. The staff involved will change status from public to civil servant. Full integration with the Department's regional and headquarters structure would take place within a defined period. A transition phase of no more than two years is envisaged.

The integration of the community welfare service into the Department will mean that all income maintenance schemes will be managed and delivered within one entity. This will provide opportunities in the medium to longer term for enhanced customer service, achievement of efficiencies, co-ordinated control mechanisms and elimination of duplication of effort, with consequential savings to the Exchequer and better outcomes for users of social welfare services.

The transfer programme is fully consistent with the broader proposals for public service reform being considered following the 2008 OECD study. The transfer of the CWS, in particular, will demonstrate the dismantling of existing barriers to allow movement between the public and civil service. A considerable amount of preparatory work to allow for the transfer has been completed, but progress has been stalled due to industrial relations issues.

Following consultation between the Department and health sector management, the Labour Relations Commission was asked to intervene. The first meeting of the parties took place in the LRC on 22 September 2009 and a number of meetings have taken place since then. Further meetings are planned for January 2010. The management side's intention is to reach a collective agreement with the unions as soon as is practical, so that the transfer can be implemented as early as possible in 2010. Discussions have also taken place with the unions representing staff in the Department concerning the transfer proposal.

There are no plans for a specific review of the rent supplement scheme when the administration of the SWA scheme transfers to the Department. However, the operation of the rent supplement scheme will continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Rent supplement is payable to people who are unable to meet the cost of renting private accommodation, and is intended as a short-term support. There are currently over 92,400 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of almost 25% since the end of December 2008. Over half of rent supplement recipients have been in payment for more than one year, while over 32,000 or 35% have been in payment for 18 months or more.

The rental accommodation scheme, RAS, which was introduced in 2004, gives local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the longer term housing needs of people receiving rent supplement for 18 months or more. Over 23,400 households have been transferred from rent supplement to RAS units or social housing since 2005.

The Department is committed to working closely with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in ensuring that the rental accommodation scheme meets its objective of catering for those on long-term rent supplementation, while enabling rent supplement to return to its original role of a short-term income support.

With regard to anti-social behaviour, tenancy arrangements involve a contract between the landlord and tenant. Tenant behaviour in private rented accommodation is a matter for the landlord in the first instance. There are a number of avenues open to landlords in such cases, including the mediation service for landlords and tenants operated by the Private Residential Tenancies Board and-or recourse to the Garda Síochána and-or the courts concerning enforcement of the law on anti-social behaviour. If necessary, the landlord may seek termination of the tenancy which, if effected, would result in the termination of rent supplement. There are no plans to make changes to the social welfare legislation in this regard.

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