Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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318. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which community welfare services remain readily accessible in all areas throughout County Kildare with particular reference to meeting out-of-hours emergency needs when necessary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8789/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In Co. Kildare, the restructured Community Welfare Service which was formerly available two mornings per week at walk-in clinics is now available at all times through initial telephone contact, which means the service can be delivered without the need to attend a clinic. Telephone calls are followed by appointments or home visit if necessary, or application by post for non-urgent claims. All calls are returned within 1 working day and emergency calls are prioritised. Where any customers are not able, for reasons of illness or disability, to attend an appointment, arrangements will be made to see them in their home.

Prior to the restructuring, several changes to the operation of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme (SWA) in Kildare had already been made. All claims for Rent Supplement were centralised to a dedicated unit. A system of Integrated Decisions was put in place in Newbridge Local Office in order to expedite claims for Jobseekers Allowance, Jobseekers Benefit and One Parent Family payment and thus minimise the recourse to SWA in these cases. The result of these initiatives has been to greatly reduce the dependence on SWA, and the local Community Welfare Service, in local areas. The main business now transacted locally is applications for Exceptional Needs Payments.

All services are monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure adequate services continue to be available. In addition, the mobile phone numbers of the Community Welfare Officers in North Kildare are with the Superintendent Garda in Leixlip, in case of emergency.

Contact details for the service are as follows:

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.