Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to have the social welfare offices in Kilbarrack, Dublin 5 and Coolock, Dublin 17 fitted with the technology to facilitate digital signing in of clients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41062/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Electronic certification (or digital signing) for fully unemployed clients was introduced in Kilbarrack on 23rd March 2012 and in Coolock on 21st May 2012. It is now fully operational in both of these social welfare local offices.

This functionality introduces greater flexibility to the signing process as it means offices can respond immediately to queues by opening and closing counters, as required, to deal with the volumes of clients on hand at any particular time, rather than being limited to a having a set number of counters open.

Another feature of this new initiative is that clients now receive a text (SMS) the day before they are due to sign to remind them to do so. This offers an enhanced customer service to clients and also helps to eliminate unnecessary work in offices.