Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the current relationship she has with the community welfare service; the services and payments that community welfare officers are responsible for administering; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9063/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is administered by the Community Welfare Service (CWS) division of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection in accordance with guidelines issued by this Department. Neither the Minister nor the Department has a function in deciding entitlement in individual cases. The CWS also administer and various payments to asylum seekers on behalf of the Department. In addition some community welfare officers carry out a range of functions on behalf of the HSE.

The staff of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) were transferred to the Department of Social Protection (DSP) with effect from 1 January 2011 on a secondment basis. The period of secondment is to last for 9 months until the end of September 2011. From 1 October 2011 it is intended that the staff of the CWS will be transferred to the Department as civil servants.