Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2012
149 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the planned introduction of the new national employment and entitlements service; when the new service will be fully operational and the number of staff that will be employed by the NEES; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27718/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe establishment of the new National Employment and Entitlements Service which integrates employment and income support services is now underway within the Department and implementation of the various elements of the service is ongoing.
The transfer of the employment and community services divisions of FÁS and the Community Welfare Service function from the HSE was completed on schedule. These transfers facilitated the development of the new "one stop shop" service model and trials of the new integrated "one stop shop" service are currently being implemented at offices located at King's Inns/ Parnell St., Tallaght, Arklow and Sligo and these will be followed by a further ten offices later in the year. As a result of the scale of the transformation required, full roll-out of the service in all offices will take a number of years to complete.
The new service will be provided by staff currently working within the Department, totalling approximately 6,500 including in the region of 1,700 staff who recently transferred from FÁS and the Community Welfare Service. One of the key challenges in the development of the new service is to increase the number of case managers and to develop the competencies required to provide an integrated and holistic service to clients. The Department is building its capability in this regard.
