Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. She is at a conference in Cavan today for rural development Ministers from the OECD. I thank Deputy Stanley for raising the issue. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system that provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient. The community welfare service, CWS, remains a flexible service which meets the varied needs of vulnerable people and the Minister wants to be absolutely clear that it continues to provide local access to local community welfare officers, CWOs, in local areas across the country and there are no plans to change the service. Her Department has maintained staffing levels in the CWS nationwide in recent years, during times when demand decreased. This is reflective of the commitment to continue to support delivery of locally based services to customers.

CWOs can facilitate urgent and in-person meetings in 51 Intreo centres across business hours five days a week. In addition to meeting citizens in the Intreo offices, branch offices and Department of Social Protection offices, CWOs can facilitate an appointment within a short time of a person requiring a meeting at a mutually agreed location including the person's home. The Department of Social Protection has introduced innovations this year which have increased efficiency in processing applications for the supplementary welfare allowance payments. One of these is the establishment of a back-office team to undertake preparatory work on applications. That includes registration of claims and the gathering of supporting documentation that is necessary to assess and finalise a claim. Providing this clerical assistance has been found to be very effective in releasing the CWOs from administrative tasks and allows them to focus on delivery. It allows for increased capacity of CWOs to meet people locally or to travel with them as customers as required, and also for more timely processing of claims.

The Minister firmly believes that a modern community welfare service should be easily accessible to all customers. For this reason customers no longer have to meet in person with a CWO to make a claim. This significant change ensures enhanced access to the welfare system. It means, for instance, that those who require community welfare assistance in a more remote rural area no longer need to wait for an outreach service to be available. The application form is available to download for those who can access it online. It can also be requested by phone through the dedicated CWS free-phone line, and also by email. The Minister cannot emphasise enough that while changes to modernise and improve the service for customers are a feature of welfare services, the delivery of a locally based service will remain a cornerstone of her commitment in the Department. I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys.

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