Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has considered the effect of the additional workload, arising from the introduction of the additional needs payment, for community welfare officers; and if she has considered employing additional staff at already short-staffed centres. [34903/22]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The additional needs payment was one of the Government's ways of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. We know it is not the panacea that has been suggested. However, the problem is that it does little to help those struggling. Furthermore, it has resulted in an increase in the workload for already overworked community welfare officers, CWOs. Does the Minister have any plans to employ additional staff to already short-staffed centres to aid these officers with their increasing workload and ensure there are no delays in getting payments out to those who may be eligible for them?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this question. The delivery of crucial community welfare services to meet the challenges and the needs of citizens across the country remains a priority for me and my Department. It is important that the community welfare service, CWS, remains accessible, flexible and responsive to meet the varied needs of vulnerable people, particularly in a time of crisis or emergency.

The Department has maintained staffing levels in the CWS nationwide in recent years during times when demands decreased, reflective of the commitment to continue to support the delivery of locally based services to customers. The Department has introduced innovations this year, which have increased efficiency in processing applications for supplementary welfare allowance payments. These innovations and the maintenance of staffing levels have led to the CWS being in a stronger position to respond to increases in the demand for the service as they occur. This was borne out when a surge of claims was received arising from significant numbers of displaced people arriving from Ukraine. It is, therefore, anticipated that there is sufficient capacity within the CWS to manage the increased level of claims arising from the promotion of the additional needs payment during the recent advertising campaign.

Among the innovations that the Department has introduced to help citizens and to support community welfare officers, where possible, is that the preparatory work on applications, for example, the gathering of supporting documentation that is necessary to assess and finalise a claim, is carried out largely by a back-office team. However, the assessment and decision on claims and any further customer interactions are then carried out by locally based CWOs, as has always been the case.

The delivery of a locally based community welfare service remains a cornerstone of the system. This method of processing applications has been found to be very effective in improving service to customers and balancing the work of individual CWOs, especially at times of particular pressure. Having said that, it is important to note that claims activity within the CWS is closely monitored at all times and resources are deployed as necessary. There is now a national organisational structure in place to oversee the operation of the service across the entire country. As the Deputy is aware, when people need money, they need it now and not down the road.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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My office has been contacted by people who work at the front line in the administration of these payments and they tell me they are at breaking point because of the understaffing, not just recently but for some time, and the demands that have been placed on them. It is not helped by Ministers telling everybody who cannot afford to put petrol in their car to run to the community welfare officer and everything will be fine. All the problems and solutions seem to be pointing in the same direction. It is left to those on the front line to break the news to people that many of these statements are inaccurate, misleading or grossly exaggerated.

Those on the front line also claim that the recent introduction of the additional needs payment was not communicated to them - the people who administer it - until the day after it was announced to the public. This raises the question of how much thought, preparation and planning have been put into it. We know this payment is desperately needed by so many right across the country. The payment is administered to them by the Government and it is important that we ensure people get it in time.

My colleague, Deputy Kerrane, has been championing the issue of making sure that people can access the payment online. I understand that the Minister responded to the call earlier. That is one solution. It should have been done long before now. Deputy Kerrane has been calling for this for some time. Does the Minister have any other solutions or will she take up that proposal, along with other solutions, to alleviate the burden on those who are on the front line? The Minister should pay the staff respect when communicating the introduction of a new payment.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The community welfare officers across the country are a great resource to the Department of the Social Protection. In my experience, I have always found them to be exceptionally helpful. They have always gone beyond the call of duty in trying to help people who need support at particular times in their lives.

As Deputy Doherty is aware, we started a very active media campaign to make people aware that this service is available. We have been running advertisements on radio and social media. We have constantly tried to raise awareness and get the message out.

I am sure the Deputy will have seen those advertisements himself through our constituency offices. I would appreciate the help of all Deputies to enable us to get out that message.

The community welfare service is closely monitored at all times and resources are deployed as necessary. As I said, other staff have been able to do some of the back-office work but the community welfare officers are there to meet people. They cannot be contacted by email or phone and I am working on an online application process. It takes some time to provide these services because they have to be designed. We are trying to make it as easy as possible for people to access the additional needs payment.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister confirm whether those working on the front line and administering the additional needs payment were given advance notice before a public announcement was made? Were they given training on what this would pertain to? Is it the Minister's position that no additional staffing support is required for those working on the front line as community welfare officers and is she satisfied the timeframe from application to grant payment is sufficiently short in all areas of the State to avoid undue delays at a time when the rate of inflation is close to 10% and when every day is crucial to these families? What is her understanding of an acceptable timeframe from application to payment?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The additional needs payment is not a new scheme and it comes under the remit of the general supplementary welfare allowance scheme operational guidelines. A briefing note with information on the additional needs payment has issued to all staff in the Department, setting out the role of community welfare officers in assisting customers with cost-of-living expenses. It directs community welfare officers to use their discretionary powers in considering applications for additional needs payments and places significant emphasis on assisting customers with cost-of-living expenses.

Where there are household income guidelines, it has been emphasised to the community welfare service, CWS, team in my Department that these are guidelines only and that customers' needs for assistance arising from difficulties in meeting increased costs for food, fuel, electricity and heating are the primary consideration. The briefing note was augmented by a training webinar for all community welfare officers, CWOs, nationwide with the national CWS management team and a training bulletin has issued to all CWS staff in regard to the increased costs of living and the additional needs payment. I have asked my deputy Secretary General to meet the community welfare officers and to report to me on that meeting. While she is in constant contact with them, she will also meet them.