Written answers

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Department of Social Protection

Community Welfare Services

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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401. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a county breakdown and in the case of Dublin a postcode breakdown of the current and intended locations of community welfare officers where it is anticipated that a relocation will happen over the next year. [9398/14]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A key objective of the transfer of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) from the Health Service Executive to the Department on 1st October 2011 was to provide a streamlined and consistent service to the customer. As part of this process and to support the Department’s activation commitments under the Pathways to Work Programme and the development of Intreo services nationally, it has been necessary to review the administration of all its services across its remit including the CWS. The Pathways to Work Programme represents a significant reform in the social welfare system and highlighted the need for the Department to focus its resources on the provision of opportunities, supports and assistance to unemployed people. The Department is intensifying its level of engagement with the unemployed, in particular, those who are, or become, long-term unemployed. The new Intreo service offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers, a model which is currently being rolled out across the country.

Overall, this is resulting in a rebalancing of resources across the Department’s range of activities including the relocation of some staff to main centres, primarily Intreo offices, which will provide a full range of services, including the CWS and these will, in general, be available in one location. Where the community welfare service has been re-structured, alternative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that customers are provided with on-going access to the supports provided by the service.

In general, this means that the frequency of available public clinics has increased. Improved phone services have been put in place, allowing in many cases, for customer queries to be processed without having to attend a clinic on a face to face basis. If a person is unable to travel to a clinic, for example due to illness, alternative arrangements are in place including arranging a visit to the client’s home if necessary.

People claiming supports under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme generally only interact with the Department on an occasional basis, for example, when seeking an exceptional needs payment or in claiming additional supports such as rent supplement, which are usually reviewed once to twice yearly.

A full listing of the CWS locations by county, including postcodes for Dublin, is available on the Department’s website at the following link

In terms of further re-structuring of CWS clinics during 2014, the Department is continuously reviewing the staffing needs for all areas of its business, to ensure that the best use is made of available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department and that the services provided are reconstituted, where necessary, to meet the changing needs of Irish society.

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