Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Since the economic collapse from 2007 and 2008 onwards, there was a vast increase in the number of people seeking to be assisted by the Department of Social Protection. As the Deputy knows, the number claiming in a very wide range of areas increased enormously, most notably among those who lost their jobs. Consequently, the pressure on the system increased enormously. As the Deputy is aware, 1,000 community welfare officers who formerly worked in the HSE came into my Department in 2012, as did the people who worked in the FÁS employment services, who numbered approximately 700.

The Department has undergone this major transformation. I visit local social welfare offices, probably at the rate of two offices a month. There is still a number of offices which have to be transformed. We must also start upgrading a number of the branch offices. Any objective observer of the Department would accept, given the sheer volume of cases with which we deal, some of which arise from the difficulties of the recession, that the numbers of the unemployed are going down.

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