The decision to localise the administration of the one-parent family payment was taken following the Report of the Expenditure Review of the One-Parent Family Payment which was published in September 2000. It is intended to devolve over time the administration of the one-parent family payment to the Department's network of local offices around the country.
This is aimed primarily at making the scheme more accessible to recipients of one parent-family payment. It will be of great value in helping them to access information about employment, education and training opportunities in their own area, through my Department's local employment support services. It will also assist in reducing claim processing times through closer linkage with the local investigators and will enhance closer liaison between the community welfare officers and the Department's local offices in regard to one-parent families.
A working group was set up in my Department to oversee the arrangements that must be put in place to effect the transfer of one-parent family payment claims processing from its current centralised location in the pension services office in Sligo to the Department's network of local offices. As a first step, a pilot project for processing new claims in the Dublin west area started on 2 May 2001 in Tallaght.
New one-parent family payment claims in this area are now being accepted and decided at local level. This pilot project will help to identify any issues or problems arising from localisation and allow them to be addressed before extending the process to other local offices. The progress of this pilot is being kept under continuous review.
Pending development of appropriate computer facilities for full local operation of the scheme, payment order books will continue to be issued through the Sligo office for the time being. The new computer facilities will likely be available in early 2002 and this will allow for the extension of localisation of this scheme to all local offices during 2002.