Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ó Clochartaigh for raising this issue of the community welfare service, CWS, in Connemara and, in particular, the closure, in September 2013, of offices in An Spidéal, An Cheathrú Rua agus Cil Chiaráin.

The Government has provided €30.3 million for the exceptional needs and urgent needs payment schemes in 2016. In line with all supplementary allowance schemes, the overall reduction in the live register and general improvement in the economy has reduced recourse to exceptional needs payments, ENPs. In 2012, 459 ENPs totalling €149,000 were paid in the three offices and 177 payments totalling €73,000 were paid up to the end of September in 2013. Corresponding details on payments since September 2013 are not available as all such payments are now included in the figures for Galway city and Clifden and are not separately identified.

In 2012 a working group made up of staff from the CWS reviewed the ENP guidelines with a view to achieving standardisation and consistency in the treatment of applications across the country. This review was used as a basis for revised guidelines that issued to staff in 2012 and 2013. These guidelines provide maximum recommended amounts for specific items such as white goods, furniture and prams. The Department reviewed these guidelines in 2015 and no changes were provided to the recommended amounts. The guidelines assist Department staff administering the scheme and do not affect the discretion available to officers in issuing a payment to assist an individual or household in any particular hardship situation which may arise. The ENP scheme is demand led and continues to provide assistance to those with exceptional needs taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

Following the transfer of the service from the Health Service Executive, HSE, to the Department in 2011, the Department has re-engineered its business model to support the provision of integrated services across all business streams involved in the delivery of localised services. As part of this strategy, the Department is engaged in the delivery of integrated Intreo centres, which provide a full range of services, including the CWS, generally available in one location. The change is a move away from the traditional model of one CWS officer serving an individual location and delivering the full range of services towards a sustainable team-based approach. Where the service has been restructured, including in the Connemara area, alternative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that customers are provided with ongoing access to the supports provided by the service.

In the Galway area, this means that the frequency of available public clinics has increased, an improved phone service and dedicated e-mail address are available and alternative arrangements are in place for those who cannot travel - for example, due to illness - including arranging a visit to the client’s home as necessary. In addition, an appointments service is now in operation which is proving very successful in terms of efficient service delivery. The community welfare clinics in An Spidéal, An Cheathrú Rua agus Cil Chiaráin all operated from premises under the remit of the HSE. The amount of money paid to the HSE for the use of their premises is included in the overall memorandum of understanding between the Department and the HSE which covers the whole country. Any savings from the closure of particular clinics have not been calculated and could only be estimated on an apportionment basis. Staff who were working in these locations at the time of their closure were transferred to Galway, two remaining in the CWS and the third transferring to employment services as a case officer in the integrated Intreo service. As a result, there were no staff-cost savings.

I am very conscious of the need to provide efficient and effective customer-facing services at a local level for all customers of the Department and would like to reassure the Senator that the changes to the services in Connemara were not undertaken as a cost-saving measure but instead were intended to enhance the integration of all of the Department’s localised services in County Galway. I am not entirely sure what the Senator meant by making a distinction between customers and clients but I would be interested to understand it.