Vol. 386 No. 2
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans his Department have to improve conditions in many employment exchanges where poor conditions and generally inadequate facilities create problems for both staff and social welfare recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
19.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether many of his Department's offices are in need of improvement from the point of view of lack of privacy for recipients and working conditions for staff; and if he will outline his proposals to remedy the situation.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 19 together.
Many of the older local offices were not designed to cater for the numbers attending. To deal with the problem my Department have undertaken a programme to provide new offices and improve existing offices and I am pleased to say that good progress has been achieved.
Since 1985 ten new employment exchanges have been opened and six others have been extensively refurbished. At present three new employment exchanges are under construction. Contracts for the construction of a further three new offices will be placed in the near future. In addition, extensive alterations to improve facilities at seven offices will be carried out this year.
All new and refurbished offices are being designed to take advantage of modern technology and to provide facilities for privacy at new claims reception areas and at points where interviews with applicants are conducted.
I am determined to continue with this programme of improvement with the intention of ensuring that all local offices of the Department will measure up to a high standard in the quality of the facilities available for public and staff alike.
I might ask the Minister facetiously what he intends to do with all of these buildings at the end of this year when unemployment has been eliminated. How many employment exchanges are at present considered by his Department to be below an acceptable standard, in other words, the number of buildings that warrant major refurbishment or restructuring? Could the Minister also indicate what efforts are being made to provide privacy for claimants in the employment exchanges, particularly in those which will not be refurbished or restructured in the near future?
There is quite a substantial programme under way. In many cases the older offices throughout the country are less suitable, do not provide privacy and are being refurbished as speedily as we can. I am very anxious to proceed with the programme and accelerate it in any way I can. I will be seeking new approaches to dealing with this problem because I want to bring as many offices as possible up to a reasonable standard. In fact the point the Deputy mentioned constitutes one of my difficulties, that is when people ask: what do you want those offices for anyway because, in the long run, will they not have disappeared; is not your objective to have them eliminated; why should you be building nice ones? That mentality is exactly contrary to my policy because, at the beginning of last year, I introduced the concept of the one stop shop. All our offices are now being designed on that basis, which means they will be social welfare services offices which will contain everything and, with the aid of computers, all the information can be located there. That is why, as I hope, when unemployment has been much reduced, all of the community services will be available locally. That is my objective and the plan to which I am working. The Deputy can be assured that I will do everything possible to accelerate progress in that direction.
How many offices and employment exchanges are there altogether? How much money does the Minister propose spending in the current year on refurbishing?
There are at present some 50 employment exchanges and 79 branch employment exchanges throughout the country. We would have a total of approximately 220 to 226 offices. I am giving the Deputy the information on my file relating to the question tabled: there are 50 employment exchanges and 79 branch employment offices operating throughout the country. A number of such branch offices are suitable while others are not and some are very old. Talking off the top of my head I can say there has been a change this year, in that the decoration and refurbishment of these offices is being transferred to the Department itself. That constitutes a change from the way the Office of Public Works work with us and we shall have to ascertain how that new procedure evolves. There is something of the order of £2 million for new starts, if you like, this year.
New buildings?
Yes, new starts and new buildings.
And how much for refurbishment of existing exchanges?
That is something we shall have to work out because of the transfer taking place at this time. There is a certain amount of money available, in fact I know there is over £500,000 available. However, that is a separate question in respect of which I would have to get the necessary information for the Deputy.
That would amount to, on average, £2,000 per office?
Some offices are extremely modern. The Deputy would need to go and see some. He would need to go to, for example, Nutgrove and see the beautiful office we have there. I would go so far as to say no bank would match in terms of facilities, staff, modernisation, computerisation; it is top class. I have visited quite a few around the country. There is another brand new major one located in Newcastlewest, a major one beginning in Cork, another in Limerick, all of a very modern design.
What about Tallaght?
With the town centre complex starting we will be negotiating; there is a site within the complex, but there may be various ways of approaching that matter. I would be very anxious to get that under way as early as possible.
Could the Minister indicate what proportion of existing employment exchanges and offices are regarded as substandard and in need of refurbishment?
I thought we had that question earlier.
I could not give the Deputy that information; there are different requirements. In the case of some offices there is no provision for privacy, in which case the necessary alteration would be to provide extra rooms for interviews and so on. We are also very anxious to provide an information officer in as many of these offices around the country as possible, which means having a room in each for the supply of such information. Therefore, where we are dealing with an existing building, that necessitates refurbishment and/or improvement. After that we shall probably need to carry out an inventory of all the requirements. I might reassure Deputies that I very much agree with what appears to be the main thrust of their suggestion, that we should have high quality offices for social welfare claimants and that is what I shall be endeavouring to achieve.
