Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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353. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will publish the criteria upon which the decision to reorganise her Department's community welfare assistance structure was taken; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39796/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A key objective of the transfer of the Community Welfare Service from the Health Service Executive to the Department on 1^st October 2011 was to provide a more streamlined and consistent service to the customer.

The criteria upon which the Department is examining the operation of all its services across its remit, including the Community Welfare Service, is in the context of the Pathways to Work commitments and the development of Intreo services nationally. The Pathways to Work Programme includes the provision of opportunities, support and assistance to unemployed people by intensifying the Department's level of engagement with them, in particular, those who are, or become, long-term unemployed. The Intreo service delivery model offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers and this new service model, which is more efficient in its delivery, is currently being rolled out across the country. It is expected that three hundred staff will be redeployed to these activities by the end of the year.

Overall, this will result in a rebalancing of resources across the Department's range of activities - payment processing, control and activation including the relocation of some staff to main centres, primarily Intreo offices, where a full range of services will be available in one location. It has therefore been necessary to review the administration of the community welfare service with the result that clinics are being restructured with smaller clinics consolidated into larger centres. Criteria considered by management in making such decisions include the distance between clinics, available transport, the number of customers attending clinics, times and duration of clinics while continuing to ensure that best use is made of available resources and that an efficient service is provided to those who rely on the service.

Where the service has been restructured the frequency of clinics has being increased providing customers improved access to services. Alternative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that customers are provided with on-going access to the supports provided by the community welfare service. If a person is unable to travel to a new clinic, for example due to illness, alternative arrangements are in place including arranging a visit to the client's home if necessary.

I am very conscious of the need to provide efficient and effective customer facing services at a local level for clients of the Department. It is therefore essential that the services provided are reconstituted to meet the changing needs of Irish society.