asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will ensure that advertisements for the supplementary welfare allowance scheme are property displayed at all health centres.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Supplementary Welfare Allowances Scheme.
24.
Leaflets giving full details of the supplementary welfare allowances scheme are available at all health centres as well as at community information centres and at my Department's public offices. I think this, together with the information readily available at those centres, is a better means of informing the public about social welfare schemes than by way of display advertisements.
25.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of advertisements his Department have sponsored in the Press on the supplementary welfare allowance scheme; and the other measures his Department have undertaken to increase public awareness of the scheme's provisions.
My Department have on three occasions sponsored advertisements relating to the supplementary welfare allowances scheme. The first was on 21 September 1977 in connection with the general increase in rates of social welfare payments from October 1977. The second was a half-page advertisement dealing specifically with the supplementary welfare allowances scheme which appeared in the Sunday newspapers on 12 February 1978 and in the Irish language newspaper Inniu on 24 February 1978. The third was in the daily newspapers on 30 March 1978 in connection with the general increases in rates of social welfare payments from April 1978. This advertisement was repeated in the provincial press in the week ended 8 April 1978.
As regards other types of publicity, as I stated recently in reply to similar questions on this subject, supplies of an information leaflet about the scheme have been distributed to all health centres throughout the country as well as to the information offices of my Department and the community information centres registered with the National Social Service Council. An outline of the scheme is also given in the current edition of my Department's booklet entitled Summary of Social Insurance and Social Assistance Services. This booklet has a very wide distribution.
Could the Minister give the House any information about the cost of the advertisement and could he relate that——
That is a separate question.
——to the amount of supplementary welfare benefit which is actually available?
I have not got the cost of the advertisement but the big advertisement——
It would be small compared to the total amount available.
Is the Deputy complaining that we spend money on these advertisements?
No.
I am not satisfied that advertisements are the best way of doing this job. I received representations from a group in Dublin, and there were some trade union representatives on that group as well as others, and the group specifically asked me to put in a full page advertisement, which I did, but I did it because the group attached importance to it. I do not think newspaper advertisements are all that effective in this particular area. I think leaflets and information centres are much more effective.
Would the Minister not agree that part of the problem about the other publicity he mentions, such as leaflets and an information service, is the fact that people have to make contact with this service in the first instance before they become aware in many cases of the benefits to which they may be entitled? Would the Minister not consider investigating on a scientific basis the effectiveness of communicating information to possible social welfare recipients in order to ensure there is a full take-up of the money available?
So far as I have been able to get any opinion on it my information is that newspaper advertisements are not read by the sort of people who will be affected. It is a continuing problem to try to get the information across. I recognise there is a variety of ways in which those entitled to benefits can and should be informed and, as our community, health and social welfare services improve, more and more people will be more fully informed. We all have a function as Deputies, like everybody else, to make sure people get that to which they are entitled. That is our aim.
Can the Minister say whether since this matter was last discussed any further efforts have been made to brief the people administering the scheme about the different aspects of it?
I am not going to use a cliché but it is an ongoing situation. We are continually endeavouring to improve our communication methods and we have in the Department an information section and the staff in that section are constantly engaged on this work.
It is a very nice cliché not to have used.
Could the Minister enlighten the House as to how the appeals section of the supplementary welfare allowance administration is dealt with since there seems to be some ambiguity in regard to this whole matter of appeal against applications refused?
That is a separate question.
It was included in the advertisement. It was adverted to.
The original decision is taken by a community welfare officer. There is a review immediately by his superintendent and, as I understand it, appeals are dealt with by the appointed persons expeditiously. To an increasing extent they are dealt with in a matter of days.
Would the Minister not regard it as essential that there should be a neutral arbitrator in such matters since the superintendent cannot be regarded as a neutral arbitrator?
I could not accept the introduction of a neutral arbitrator in these schemes. That would be an entirely new development. As far as I know it does not exist.
Is the case referred back to the person who made the decision in the first instance and is this just or equitable?
It is a statutory function of a reputable officer to decide an appeal having regard to all the circumstances. I have reason to believe all these appeals are dealt with expeditiously and in as sympathetic and humane a fashion as possible.
That is not my experience.
I would like the Deputy to give me his experience because it is a continuing situation and the more people who can help in improving the situation the better.
I will bring the cases to the Minister's attention.