asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state the present salary scale for social welfare officers in his Department, and the normal number of hours which they are required to devote to their official duties each week.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Officers.
The salary scales for social welfare officers are as follows:—
Scale A—(which applies to single men whose pay is differentiated on a marriage basis, and women)—
£280 by annual increments of £10 to £300 and then by annual increments of £15 to £590.
Scale B—(which applies to married men or men whose pay is differentiated on a sex basis)—
£280 by annual increments of £15 to £310 by annual increments of £20 to £450 and then by annual increments of £25 to £770.
These scales attract the percentage increases granted in Civil Service pay generally, making the inclusive salaries as follows:—
Scale A—from £381 at the minimum to £760 at the maximum.
Scale B—from £381 at the minimum to £981 at the maximum.
Social welfare officers, being engaged mainly on outdoor duties which involve considerable travelling, are not conditioned to fixed hours of attendance. Their duties are schemed on a time unit basis to provide a total of 44 hours' work each week.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state, (a) the total number of social welfare officers in his Department, and (b) the number of such officers stationed in each county and county borough.
As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to have it circulated in the Official Report.
The following is the statement:—
|
County or County Boro |
No. of Social Welfare Officers |
County or County Boro |
No. of Social Welfare Officers |
|
Carlow |
2 |
Limerick |
3 |
|
Cavan |
3 |
Longford |
3 |
|
Clare |
4 |
Louth |
5 |
|
Cork Co. Boro |
10 |
Mayo |
11 |
|
Cork |
15 |
Meath |
3 |
|
Donegal |
9 |
Monaghan |
4 |
|
Dublin Co. Boro (including Boro of Dún Laoghaire) |
50* |
OffalyRoscommon |
45 |
|
Dublin |
2 |
Sligo |
4 |
|
Galway |
10 |
Tipperary |
11 |
|
Kerry |
11 |
Waterford Co. Boro |
3 |
|
Kildare |
3 |
Waterford |
2 |
|
Kilkenny |
3 |
Westmeath |
5 |
|
Laois |
2 |
Wexford |
7 |
|
Leitrim |
4 |
Wicklow |
5 |
|
Limerick Co. Boro |
5 |
Total No. of Social Welfare Officers—208*
* Includes 12 unattached officers who are available for service on relief duty as required in any part of the State.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether official instructions have been issued by his Department to social welfare officers that they shall interview members of the public only during certain fixed hours each week or by special appointment.
Official instructions have not been issued to social welfare officers that they shall only interview members of the public during certain fixed hours each week or by appointment. Social welfare officers' duties require them to be engaged on outdoor investigation work for considerable periods. To facilitate members of the public wishing to interview them at the office, fixed hours of office attendance are arranged to suit local conditions to the greatest possible extent. The days and hours of fixed office attendance are shown on a notice board or office plate displayed at each office. Members of the public are also interviewed outside these hours, with or without an appointment, whenever the social welfare officer is available.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether it is part of the official duties of social welfare officers in his Department to assist applicants for benefits under the Social Welfare Act to secure the benefits to which they may be entitled, or if it is the policy of his Department that applicants be given only the minimum of official aid and that it be left to the initiative and intelligence of the applicant to pursue his or her claim.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. It is part of the official duties of social welfare officers to assist applicants to secure the benefits to which they may be entitled under the Social Welfare Act, 1952. Their standing instructions impress on them the importance of affording the utmost courtesy, assistance and sympathetic understanding to the members of the public affected by the social welfare schemes administered by the Department and require them to give prompt, painstaking and courteous attention to all inquiries and to advise applicants fully and clearly as to the measures to be taken by them in connection with their claims.
The answer to the second part of the question is, therefore, in the negative.