Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 142: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she is satisfied that the level of funding her Department is providing to the Health Service Executive in respect of the salaries of community welfare officers is sufficient to allow local officers meet the extra demand placed on them arising from the economic downturn or to allow the HSE to recruit additional officers. [3228/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) and Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) schemes are administered by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the Department Social and Family Affairs. The operational arrangements for the processing of applications and the payment to qualifying individuals, is a matter for the respective community welfare division areas.

The administration costs of the SWA and BSCFA schemes are met by the department. Funding for salaries of community welfare officers is based on the proportion of time they spend administering these schemes. Funding is provided centrally to the HSE which is responsible for the allocation of budgets to individual community welfare divisions.

In 2008 the department paid the HSE €58.3m in administration costs. This was based on the cost of salaries in 2007 plus a Department of Finance pay inflator of 3.74%. The issue of increased demand on existing resources is a matter for the HSE in the first instance to prioritise workloads and re-deploy resources where necessary so that frontline services are maintained. The department is committed to working closely with the HSE in ensuring effective delivery of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme and associated income support payments. It is open to the HSE at anytime to approach the department to review its allocation for staff costs associated with delivery of these services.

However, the question of any increase in expenditure for staffing within the Community Welfare Service above that currently provided would have to be considered in the context of overall Government policy on public service manpower levels.