asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans she has to appoint more deciding officers for the purpose of deciding entitlement to unemployment assistance locally having regard to the apparent need and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Appointment of Deciding Officers.
18.
Most decisions on entitlement to unemployment assistance, other than on their means, are in fact decided locally by statutorily appointed deciding officers at employment exchanges throughout the country. The function of assessing a claimant's means, however, is largely carried out by deciding officers at head office on the basis of the report prepared by the local social welfare officer. Approximately 700 cases in respect of the means of new claimants are decided each week while a further 1,200 cases have their means re-assessed following review of their cases.
The policy has been in recent years to devolve these decisions to employment exchanges to the greatest extent possible. All cases where the social welfare officer's report indicated a nil means assessment are now decided at the local employment exchange and in addition responsibility for making decisions in relation to cases where there are means assessed is now being performed at some of the larger employment exchanges.
The kind of decisions which have been devolved to local offices have, in general, been the more straightforward cases. It will be some time before the assessment of means can be entirely carried out at local level in view of the complexity of the decisions involved, the large number of local offices and the consequent training programmes involved.