Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 702: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the date on which the decision was made to transfer community welfare officers from the employment of the Health Service Executive to her Department; and the date on which this transfer is scheduled to take place. [29956/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government decided in February 2006 to transfer certain functions from the Health Service Executive and from the Department of Health and Children to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, as part of its reform of the Health Sector. The functions concerned included the administration of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme by Community Welfare Officers and related staff.

Considerable progress has been made in the transfer of functions programme. The General Register Office transferred in 2008 and the administration of Domiciliary Care Allowance is currently being transferred. While preparations for the transfer of Community Welfare Officers and related staff are very advanced, there are a number of industrial relations difficulties to be resolved before that transfer takes place.

Discussions have been underway for some time with the trade unions representing the staff concerned in the health sector and in the civil service. The issues which it has not been possible to resolve with the health sector unions have been referred to the Labour Relations Commission and it is expected that a meeting of the parties will take place at the Commission in late August or early September. Discussions are continuing with the civil service unions within the civil service industrial relations structure.

The objective is to achieve a collective agreement with both sets of unions and to arrange for the transfer to take place as soon as possible.