Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress made to date and plans for the transfer of community welfare officers to her Department including clarification on where the CWOs will be located; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6000/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Late last year agreement was reached between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and unions representing the Community Welfare Officers that the staff of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) would transfer to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1st January 2011 on a secondment basis initially. The period of secondment is to last for 9 months until the end of September 2011. During this period, the various HR and administrative systems (such as payroll records) are to be put in place and the ongoing IR negotiations brought to a conclusion. While on secondment, the staff will remain employees of the HSE and, as such, will retain their existing terms and conditions, and will be represented by SIPTU and IMPACT.

From 1 October 2011 it is intended that the staff of the CWS will be transferred fully to the Department as civil servants and that associated resources such as buildings and administrative budget funding will also be transferred. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 provided the legislative basis for this to happen. Legislation to enable the Department to administer the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme directly was introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Acts 2007 and 2008.

I can confirm that the staff of the CWS did second to the Department from the beginning of this year. A number of events were held for the service so that staff could meet the Secretary General and other members of the Management Board and obtain clarification of the implications of the transfer and plans for the future development of the integrated Department. In practice, substantial progress has been made at local and regional level in integrating the Service and the Department. Regional co-ordinators and superintendent community welfare officers are now members of the Department's regional management teams, which meet regularly. Furthermore, six temporary transition managers have been appointed from within the CWS, following a competitive process, to assist in the transfer and integration process. A number of initiatives are underway at local level to address issues of mutual concern, improve communications and remove duplication and overlaps between the CWS and DSP Local Offices.

Negotiations between the unions and management side are continuing under the auspices of the labour Relations Commission (LRC) to resolve the outstanding industrial relations issues.