Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus táim thar a bheith buíoch de as ucht teacht isteach. The Minister of State knows that there was a movement of community welfare officers, CWOs, from the HSE to the Department of Social Protection in 2011 and 2012 with the Department taking over more than 900 clinics that CWOs would previously have undertaken. In 2012, more than 100 clinics were closed. The Minister maintained that the service had been enhanced with phone lines being preferable to clinics and CWOs visiting people's homes to meet them where that was needed.

We agree in principle with the transfer of CWOs to the Department and said so at the time. The restructuring of services where possible into one-stop-shops and the making of savings on rent costs was to be done in a way that would not compromise the accessibility of the CWO and the person who succeeded them in that scenario.This is the subject of my question. We had a particular concern in Connemara with the closure of a service in Carraroe and also the services in Oughterard and Spiddal being rationalised and moved to Galway city. The Minister at the time told us it was to provide for a streamlined and consistent service to the customer. The language used is interesting in that it is a customer as opposed to a client, and that anyone using the services of a CWO or a social welfare office is regarded as a customer. She also said the Department was intensifying its level of engagement with the unemployed, in particular those who are or had become long-term unemployed, and that the new Intreo service offers practical tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers, a model which is currently being rolled out throughout the country. It is acknowledged that there is an increased engagement with the unemployed so therefore one would imagine that more interaction would be needed with these former community welfare officers. We were informed that where the community welfare service had been restructured, alternative arrangements had been put in place to ensure customers - that word used again - are provided with ongoing access to the supports provided by the service and that in general this would mean that the frequency of available public clinics had been increased.

I note that Deputy Ó Snodaigh and other Deputies and ourselves at the time had raised issues around this because in rural areas where a service was being removed or moved to an urban centre, transport connections such as bus services were not available. For example, there is no bus service to Clifden, the nearest centre for people living in Carna, County Galway. Anyone wishing to go to the city would have to get a bus first thing in the morning and stay in the city all day until the return at night. I know from dealing with people through my office that people have been asked to attend at the centre in Galway on a number of occasions, for three or four days in the same week, to finalise their claims for supports from the Department of Social Protection. It has been said that in cases where people are not in a position to travel due to lack of resources or lack of transport, the Department would call out to those people and ensure they were provided with a service. The Department would initially endeavour to deal with those people by telephone or by post.

How many times in the past year have these former community welfare officers or officers of the Department of Social Protection gone out to Connemara to visit people in their homes? It is my understanding that the travel is the other way around, that people are being asked to travel to Galway or to Clifden to process their claims. This is sometimes not practical. For example, a person applying for a special needs payment may be in dire straits or may be finding it very difficult to make ends meet. It is an extra burden on such individuals if they are asked to incur travel costs and it is unfair. I am interested to know how many call-outs have been undertaken by officers on behalf of the Department of Social Protection to help people to process their claims, as was the practice previously with the community welfare officers.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, I thank Senator Ó Clochartaigh for raising this issue of house calls to social welfare customers in Connemara. The Minister of State is unable to attend today, for which he apologises. He was looking forward to the opportunity to reply to Senator Ó Clochartaigh in Irish.

Before I reply to the Senator, with the permission of the Acting Chairman I wish to welcome students from my local school in Trim, Boyne community school, who are taking the Dáil tour. I think there are a few future politicians among them, either Senators or Deputies. They are all very welcome. It is important that schools have an opportunity to see what goes on in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, is very conscious of the need to provide efficient and effective customer-facing services at a local level for all customers of the Department. I note that Senator Ó Clochartaigh does not like the use of the term "customer", but I think it is a very appropriate term because these are public services and these people are customers. It is better than some of the titles that would have been used in the past. It reminds the departmental staff involved that we are dealing with customers and that they should be treated as customers the same as in any service being offered. In my view it is a good way to look at it but we can have a discussion about it at another time.

Since late 2013, community welfare services in the Connemara area are provided from both the Galway and Clifden offices. Staff based in An Spidéal and An Ceathrú Rua were relocated to Galway city, while services based in Cill Chiaráin were relocated to Clifden. In addition, the frequency of available public clinics was increased to five days per week in Galway city and to three days per week in Clifden. In both locations, anyone wishing to avail of the services of the Department are dealt with in person at the office, by phone, e-mail, postal application or by house call, where necessary. Customers are encouraged to contact the service by phone, e-mail or post in the first instance and in most cases their queries can be addressed without them having to attend a public clinic. If a meeting is necessary, they are usually offered an appointment to come in and meet the officer at a suitable time and date. If the customer cannot come into the office for any valid reason, the officer will call to the customer's home by prior arrangement.

The information required by the Senator on the number of such house calls is currently not available. Officers regularly make calls to customers' homes in the Connemara area for initial applications or for follow-up visits and reviews. I am assured there has been no change in this situation. Anyone who has a requirement for a house call for whatever valid reason is catered for when it is brought to the attention of the relevant officer. If the Senator has knowledge of any specific cases that require a house call, the details can be brought to the attention of the departmental officials.

We all know that some situations will require a house call. When I was a young fellow growing up, my father was a community welfare officer and at that time it was the norm to do house calls. The Senator will appreciate that the provision of services has changed in the past 20 or 30 years, the number of people engaging with those services has increased and, therefore, house calls are no longer the norm. They are common in our job as politicians. However, the reduction in the numbers of departmental staff means it is not possible but, where appropriate, house calls should be undertaken. I ask the Senator to contact the Department if he is aware that house calls were not undertaken and it will be investigated.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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On the point about the use of the term, "customer", I think "client" might be a better term. We can have a discussion on that. The Minister of State referred to the time when he was a young fellow but there are many of us in this House who would still categorise him as a young fellow because he is looking a lot fresher than some of us, and fair play to him.

I am quite surprised that the Department of Social Protection has no statistics on the number of house calls. I find it strange that this information is not available. Even from an employment perspective there must be some record if an officer is being asked to make house calls. For example, travel expenses need to be reimbursed. This statistical information needs to be collected because if there is a high number of house calls, it might raise the need for a satellite office or a reconsideration of the closure of the office in Carraroe. If the number of house calls is small, the opposite would apply and it would have been the right decision. I find it very strange that the Department of Social Protection, which is very good at collecting statistics, does not have any statistics whatsoever on the number of house calls being made by its officers in a place as big and as rural as Connemara. A high number of house calls will mean a high level of expense. One imagines that travel expenses are payable to the officers. The reply is not satisfactory and I would appreciate more information. I ask the Department to revert to me with those statistics when they are to hand.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I will convey that message to the Minister of State. To be clear, the statistics are currently not available. It is not a case that they do not exist but I think they could not compile the information within the timeframe. I will pass on the message to the Minister of State, Deputy Humphreys. The Senator has a very good reason for using the information which is to identify future service needs. The Department values the service it provides. I refer to the changes proposed for the delivery of customer services through the Intreo offices. It is hoped to see a decrease in the caseload for case officers through working with private industry to address the needs of all our constituents and clients. It is hoped there will be a significant improvement in the time available to each client because this will help them on their journey to re-employment. I will provide the information to the Senator when it is compiled.