Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 457: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will confirm that it is intended to replace the community welfare officer with the Department of Social and Family Affairs officer; his views on whether this is a retrograde move; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15129/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive, on my behalf. The commission on financial management and control systems in the health service, which reported in 2003, noted that over the years the health system had been assigned responsibility for a number of services which might be regarded as non-core 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 set up an interdepartmental group to examine this issue. The report of the interdepartmental group was 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 my Department. This initiative has been mooted several times in the past and is a logical approach to provision of these services.

The transfer would include community welfare officers and others. Given the organisational, human resource and industrial relations implications of the transfer, consultations with all stakeholders will be part of the process to implement the decision. As a first step, a departmental working group has been established to progress implementation of the transfer.

The changes arising from the decision will have major implications for my Department's existing services and for the future delivery of supplementary welfare allowance. I am confident that this transfer process can be carried out without any negative effect on the standard of service currently provided by community welfare officers, or in the important role that they play in addressing issues of disadvantage in the community.