Conor Lenihan
Ceist:275 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people who contact his Department; and the issues most commonly cited for a representation by a member of the public. [24438/99]
Vol. 511 No. 3
275 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people who contact his Department; and the issues most commonly cited for a representation by a member of the public. [24438/99]
276 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people who ring or contact his Department directly on an annual basis regarding their social welfare entitlements. [24439/99]
277 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the level of funding he gives to organisations which assist people in accessing their social welfare entitlements. [24440/99]
278 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of information officers employed by his Department to assist the public in knowing their entitlements. [24441/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 275 to 278, inclusive, together.
My Department provides information on all aspects of social welfare in a variety of ways. Inquiries relating to specific social welfare schemes received in writing, by telephone or from personal callers may be handled at local level or by the relevant offices or sections responsible for administering the particular services in question. Information is also available from each of the Department's 57 local offices and 69 branch offices throughout the country. There are also two public offices in Dublin.
In the main scheme areas and in local offices, staff are assigned by local management to meet local demand and it is therefore not possible to give a precise count of the total staff members engaged solely in information duties at any time.
Statistics relating to the number of inquiries are not maintained on a Department-wide basis. It is estimated that more than 200,000 operator-assisted telephone calls are received each month but this does not include calls to local offices, inspectors or where the caller uses a direct number provided in connection with a specific application or published in reference to particular schemes. Many other information initiatives are taken every year for example, in the period immediately after the annual budget, between two and three thousand calls are received via a special central freephone service.
An analysis of calls show that they span the full range of social welfare services. Issues of primary concern to callers include matters relating to sickness payments, pensions, one parent family payments and employment support programmes.