Dáil debates

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Community Welfare Services

9:25 pm

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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64. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied that every resident in the State, regardless of geography, has access to a community welfare officer in their locality. [59445/22]

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I totally agree that the role of the community welfare office is a vital one, so let us all put that to bed. I want to see more of them, and more of them within our communities meeting people face to face. There are 50 Intreo offices but if there are only 50 Intreo offices they can only cover a narrow geographical area. The impediment is that there are not enough community welfare officers interfacing with people on the ground. Is the Minister satisfied that every resident of the State has access, as needs be, to a CWO?

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to assure the Deputy that every resident in the State, regardless of geography, has access to a community welfare officer in their locality. CWOs are available to facilitate urgent and in-person meetings in more than 50 Intreo centres nationwide, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. In addition to meeting citizens in Intreo centres, branch offices, outreach clinics and Department of Social Protection offices, community welfare officers can make an appointment to meet a person who requests a meeting, at a mutually agreed location, including at the person's home within a short time, usually same day if it is urgent.

In addition, it is now possible for a client to make a claim, or to make an inquiry about a claim without attending in person if it is more convenient for them. The person can speak directly with a CWO when they call the community welfare service freephone line. This does not reduce the service to people, as their case can be escalated quickly if urgent local action is required such as a need for an immediate cheque payment. Where it is clear a person has an immediate need, every effort is made to ensure they receive a payment that day.

Furthermore, a person can make an application for supplementary welfare allowance by completing the SWA1 form, which is widely available. It can be downloaded at www.gov.ie. It is available in all Intreo centres and branch offices. It can also now be requested by email, phone and using the request application form page available on www.gov.ie. The completed application form should be returned to the Department, where it will be processed quickly.

I want to be very clear that the community welfare service continues to provide local access to local CWOs in local areas right across the country and I have no plans to change this aspect of the service.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I appreciate the Minister's commitment to service. I welcome the fact that the discretionary nature of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is set out in statute, covers everything from household bills to child-related payments, clothing, funeral expenses and other general expenses, housing expenses, illness expenses and a multitude of other urgent needs payments. I welcome the assurances by the Minister - if I interpret her correctly - that she is going to protect those, and that no element of those that are non-statutory will be taken away. It is vital that the discretionary element of the payments be maintained.

There is a point we are trying to make here to the Minister. If I move outside my constituency, let us consider the Navan Road for example. An area that covered Cabra, Navan Road, Phibsboro, Stoneybatter-----

Photo of Joe CareyJoe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Will the Deputy put a question?

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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This is now a service where people are being forced into the Parnell Street office. It takes the service further away from the people. Will the Minister give an undertaking to conduct an analysis of the community welfare service as it relates to every part of the country? This will tell us whether the service is being delivered equally to all citizens.

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Timelines are in line with where they were pre-pandemic. Generally, where it is clear that a person has an immediate need, every effort is made to ensure he or she receives a payment on the same day.

With regard to staffing, there are 412 people across all grades in the community welfare service. In light of the increased volume of applications, and as part of the budget, we secured agreement for approximately 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. Recruitment has commenced for these additional staff. It is anticipated that they will be in place by the first quarter of 2023. In the interim, until the staff have been recruited, 30 social welfare inspectors have been temporarily reassigned to the community welfare service since the start of November to assist with claims processing. While we do not have a full picture until the end of the year, we are starting to see now a falloff in applications for additional needs payments over recent weeks. This can probably be attributed to the lump sum payments that have been paid out.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I welcome that additional staff are being deployed. As someone who represents both an urban and rural constituency, I want to see the traditional, old-style, face-to-face interaction, and I believe that many others share this view. I take the point made by the Minister around the right of people to have access to a person where they can make an appointment.

If, however, the caseload is 75,000 applications, give or take, per annum, if I interpret the Minister correctly, and if the staff quotient is about 412, the caseload per officer is increasing, and it has become more centralised into hubs. The local discretion is being taken away and the number of officers in more remote areas is decreasing. That is my contention based on my first-hand experience. It is more an observation than a question.

9:35 pm

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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No discretion is being taken away from the community welfare officers, I assure the Deputy, because discretion is needed. In fairness to them, they bring with them not only a lot of experience but also, most importantly, compassion.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I know that.

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Some people will not qualify, and I think everybody will accept that. Some requests were very vague and may not have been as detailed as they could have been, so the officers were not in a position to decide whether or not the applicants qualified until they got more information. I reassure the Deputy, however, that the community welfare officers will continue to have the discretion they currently have. As I said, not every payment has to be made immediately. This is taxpayers' money, and there must be checks and balances in place.