Written answers

Thursday, 2 October 2014

Department of Social Protection

Community Welfare Services

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form, the number of community welfare officers currently operating by county; the number at October in 2011, 2012 and 2013; if she will also estimate the population served by each CWO to date in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37552/14]

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. When the CWS transferred to the Department in October 2011 there were approximately 760 full time equivalent community welfare officers delivering the full range of community welfare services.

The Department is continuing to examine the operation of all its services, including the CWS, in the context of the Pathways to Work commitments and the development of Intreo services nationally. 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 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 has resulted in a rebalancing of resources across the Department’s range of activities including the relocation of some staff to main centres, primarily Intreo offices,where a full range of services will be available in one location. As part of this programme of change approximately 430 satellite CWS clinics have been closed and approximately 300 posts have been redeployed to activation and case management support services, the majority coming from the former CWS cohort.

The Department currently has in the region of approximately 460 higher executive officer posts delivering the full range of CWS services. The number of officers serving per county or those as of October 2012 and 2013 are not available.

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. Statistics are not maintained to allow the estimation of the population served per officer.

The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, to ensure that the best use is made of all 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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