Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----I would advise him to be exceptionally careful. That is all I will say to him at first.

This is the fourth time we are having this conversation. To put it on the record of the House, just in case the Deputy missed it the three other times we have had the conversation, my Department operated an outreach community welfare service clinic from the HSE premises in Dunleer every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. On average, there are seven customers who look for those services in that area. The condition of the premises was very poor and the HSE withdrew its staff last year. Thereafter, the community welfare service was the only public service delivered from the centre.

On 21 March this year the HSE informed the Department that the condition of the building had rapidly deteriorated and now posed a serious health and safety risk to customers and staff. Local management had no option but to suspend the outreach service immediately. As the Deputy will be well aware, given my parliamentary question response to him on Wednesday of last week and in correspondence sent to him by my office on 26 March, my Department has taken immediate steps to minimise any inconvenience to customers who after all are the people at the centre of the service we deliver.

Other social protection services, such as jobseeker payments, are dealt with by the Drogheda Intreo centre and the Ardee branch office. Notices were posted directing the seven customers to the Drogheda Intreo centre, which is 15 km away on a main bus route. The community welfare service there is available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week, and from Ardee health centre on Tuesday and Friday, so it is a good complement for people who require the services of those centres. Customers have also been provided with a phone service staffed by experienced community welfare service personnel in Drogheda and Ardee. The phone service is available to our seven clients every day, while the clinic is only open for two hours on a Wednesday morning. If a customer is unable to visit either of the centres, for example, due to illness, arrangements can be and have been made by Department staff to conduct a home visit.

The Department is closely monitoring the impact of the closure. While it is early days, the new arrangements appear to be working quite well. Feedback on the telephone service has been overwhelmingly positive from customers, if not from local Deputies, which is good to hear. I will repeat for the third time to the Deputy that the majority of queries have been resolved over the phone and most customers have been very happy to have avoided otherwise unnecessary visits to the old clinic in Dunleer. For example, on 28 March, of the six calls received, four were for information purposes, with only two customers requiring a meeting with the designated person; on 4 April, of the six calls received, five were for information purposes and one was for a meeting; during the week ending 13 April, seven calls were received, six of which were for information purposes and one from a person who required a meeting; during the week ending 20 April, 12 calls were received, of which ten were for general information purposes and two required a meeting with the Department, and both people attended the Ardee community welfare service on that occasion.

The HSE does not intend to renovate the premises in Dunleer but my Department is currently examining the feasibility of providing the community welfare service from alternative premises in Dunleer, as I originally stated to the Deputy in the letter I sent to him by post on 26 March. Following representations from local public representatives, including Deputies Fergus O'Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick, I and my Department received an offer to host the community welfare service in a local community hall. An architect from the OPW has visited the premises to ascertain its suitability to deliver a public service and the measures that would need to be put in place to facilitate this, as well as indicative timelines and associated cost. Local management is also exploring other options to enhance the provision of the community welfare service across the county.

In the meantime, any of the seven existing customers and any people who may in future require the service in the area should contact the dedicated phone lines at 041-9815278 or 086-7953253. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy without any ambiguity.

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