Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 168: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if the status of community welfare officers is being changed; if Department of Social and Family Affairs are taking over the functions of community welfare officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13599/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The community welfare service of the Health Service Executive administers the supplementary welfare scheme on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The commission on financial management and control systems in the health service, the Brennan report, noted that over the years the health system had been assigned responsibility for a number of what might be regarded as non-core health activities. It recommended that the Government consider assigning non-core activities currently undertaken by agencies within the health service to other bodies.

The Government subsequently decided to ask an interdepartmental group to examine this issue. The report of the interdepartmental group — core functions of the health service report — was submitted to, and accepted by, the Government recently. The report recommends, among other things, that income support and maintenance schemes, together with associated resources, should be transferred to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. This would include community welfare officers and superintendent community welfare officers. This decision means that the staff concerned will transfer from the Health Service Executive to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

This particular initiative has been mooted several times in the past — by the report of the commission on social welfare in 1986 and by the review of supplementary welfare allowances by the Combat Poverty Agency in 1991. I welcome the Government's decision as it provides an opportunity to streamline the activities of the HSE while bringing about positive change for social welfare customers. An interdepartmental working group will be established to progress implementation of the transfer. There are administrative and industrial relations issues to be resolved as part of the implementation of the Government's decision and I understand that the HSE has already been in touch with the health service unions in this regard.

I am confident, along with my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, that this transfer process can be carried out without any negative effect on the standard of service currently provided by community welfare officers, or on the important role that they play in addressing issues of disadvantage in the community.