Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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50. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will reopen a full-time social welfare office in Castlepollard, County Westmeath. [5800/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Castlepollard Branch Office closed on 8 April 2022 at the request of the then Branch Office Manager due to unforeseen circumstances. No formal decision has yet been taken as to the opening of a new Social Welfare Branch Office dedicated to Castlepollard.

Since the closure, an outreach service has been put in place in the County Council Offices, Mullingar Road, Castlepollard on Tuesday and Wednesday each week, 09.30 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 16.00.

This service is fully supported by Mullingar Intreo Centre where customers are welcome to conduct their business by either attending in person, emailing mullingar@welfare.ieor via the dedicated phoneline (044) 9350921. The Department’s services are also available through digital & online channels at MyWelfare.ie.

My Department closely monitors all relevant data in regard to the service provisions in this and all other localities. There has been no reduction in service levels by the Department in relation to Activation measures, Community Welfare Support or Inspector activities as a result of the closure of the Branch Office. In addition, the closure of the Branch Office has not impacted on the claims processing and prompt customer service. All new claims are processed by the National Processing Team and this was the position prior to the closure of the Branch Office in April 2022.

The claimload of the Castlepollard Branch Office is 589 , which also takes account of the additional increased claimload associated with Temporary Protection customers from the Ukraine. Since the week ending 10th April 2022, 336 new claims have been registered at Castlepollard, which include TPU customers. This averages less than 8 claims per week, with the average footfall figures at the outreach service standing at 18 customers per day.

Social Welfare payment arrangements continue to be available for collection at Castlepollard Post Office and post offices in the surrounding area. I understand that 170 of my Department's customers collect their payments in the Castlepollard post office on a weekly basis.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.