Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 280: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of the wider welfare remit that is part of the role of the community welfare officer, she will reconsider the decision to transfer the operation of the community welfare service from the Health Service Executive to the Department of Social and Family Affairs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36154/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I should explain at the outset that the Community Welfare Service of the Health Service Executive (HSE) administers the supplementary welfare scheme on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. It has now been decided to transfer the scheme, together with associated resources, to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. My colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and I believe that this presents an opportunity to bring about positive change for social welfare customers while advancing the Health Reform Programme.

The wider welfare role undertaken by Community Welfare Officers (CWOs) includes information provision, advocacy and referral to services provided not just by the HSE but also by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, local authorities, FÁS, MABS, Community Information Centres and a range of other bodies. It is not necessary for CWOs to be employed by the HSE in order to carry out this wider welfare role as the role is broader than liaising with for example, personal social services professionals on behalf of clients. It also extends to other Government services to combat social exclusion such as employment and training opportunities.

Agencies other than the HSE also have a welfare role and work with statutory and non-statutory bodies where appropriate to promote participation and social inclusion. Transferring the Community Welfare Service to the Department of Social and Family Affairs will maximise CWOs' wider welfare role by enhancing their ability to provide an effective service to their customers both in terms of their immediate income needs and their wider welfare while working with their colleagues in the Department of Social and Family Affairs and in other bodies.

The background to this decision is that 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.

An interdepartmental group was subsequently established to examine this issue. The Group's report (Core Functions of the Health Service Report) was submitted to, and accepted by, the Government in February 2006. Among other recommendations, the Group considered that income support and maintenance schemes administered by the HSE, together with associated resources, should be transferred to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. I should also mention that this approach had been advocated previously in the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare in 1986 and in the Review of Supplementary Welfare Allowances by the Combat Poverty Agency in 1991.

An interdepartmental group is now working to progress the implementation of the transfer. As indicated by the Deputy, CWOs have an important role in addressing cases of immediate and urgent need. 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 CWOs, or in the important role that they play in addressing issues of disadvantage in the community.