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

Front office-back office is a new operating model currently being introduced which seeks to make the best use of our resources by balancing workloads across our Intreo office network. The new model utilises recent ICT developments that have removed the location constraints of the previous paper-based system. Those constraints meant that the majority of claim-related activity had to be physically performed within the local Intreo centre. Under the front office-back office model, the core front office functions in which the majority of staff are engaged, including claim reception and registration, identity verification, employment services, community welfare services and control activity, continue to be performed in local Intreo offices.

Once a claim is registered, however, it can be processed and decided by an appropriately-trained deciding officer in any one of a number of back office units that can be located anywhere in the country. This enables the efficient utilisation of available staff resources and facilitates greater standardisation and consistency in the decision-making process. It also adds significant flexibility to the Department’s ability to balance workloads across available resources nationwide and to handle unexpected spikes in demand. This has been evidenced by the prompt processing of all claims arising from the recent meat industry dispute.

The new operating model was successfully piloted in late 2017 and early 2018. Following evaluation, the model has now been implemented in 55 of the Department's branch offices and in eight Intreo centres. The roll-out of the new model across the remainder of the Intreo network is being discussed with staff representative organisations and, subject to those discussions, is planned to be completed in 2020. Back offices currently process decisions arising from approximately 35% of the total Intreo claim load.

The introduction of the front office-back office model does have some impacts for staff, as the nature of individual jobs and the organisation and distribution of work may change. Staff representatives have, therefore, been fully involved in the project over the last two years and will continue to be involved as and when the project progresses.

See this speech in context