Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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375. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of staff allocated to community welfare sections in each Intreo Office in County Donegal to process all supplementary welfare applications; if she is satisfied that sufficient staff are available to deal with the backlog; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60788/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There are currently 9 Community Welfare Services (CWS) staff working in Intreo Centres in County Donegal, listed below:

A further 4.5 CWS staff work in the following Social Welfare Branch Offices/DSP offices in County Donegal:

Overall, a total of 13.5 CWS staff are working in offices in County Donegal.  In addition, there are currently 2.5 vacant CWS posts in County Donegal.  Work is underway to fill these vacancies as quickly as possible.

Staffing levels have been maintained in the CWS nationwide in recent years, even during times when demands on the service decreased significantly.  This reflects my commitment to continue to support the delivery of locally based services to citizens.  There are currently over 412 staff working in the CWS throughout the country, including 318 Community Welfare Officers (CWOs).  

I have taken a number of steps to support CWOs and increase service capacity, including:

- In light of the increased level of applications, I recently secured agreement for some 74 additional staff to be assigned to the CWS.  Recruitment has commenced and it is anticipated that they will be in place by Q1 2023.

- In the interim until the staff have been recruited, 30 Social Welfare Inspectors have been temporarily reassigned to the CWS since the start of November to assist with claims processing.

- The introduction of a national CWS freephone line means that clients don't have to attend an office in person to make a claim or an enquiry.

- The rostering of staff ensures there is a full-time CWO presence in over 50 offices nationwide.

- The establishment of a back-office support team, to take-on the more routine administrative tasks associated with claim processing, frees up front-line CWOs to deal directly with client and their claims.

- The establishment of a national response team, which is the primary resource in responding to pressure points and surges in demand for community welfare services.

- In addition, the Department is well advanced in the development of an online claim option.

These changes mean that the CWS is in stronger position than it would otherwise have been to respond to the increase in service demand. 

I trust this clarifies the matter.