Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 April 2024
17. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the creation of processing hubs for community welfare and other services; whether she is aware of any administrative difficulties caused by the creation of the hubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18405/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraCould the Minister provide an update on the creation of processing hubs for community welfare and other services and whether she is aware of any administrative difficulties caused by the creation of these hubs? I spoke to her about this issue on a previous occasion. A number of constituents have been affected by this. I sent some sample cases to the Minister. Some have been sorted but others have not. When some people provided the necessary application forms and information, it appears materials were lost and there were delays.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The community welfare service is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring that applications are processed and ensuring that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. It is a key service and deals with approximately 12,000 claim applications per month. Over 2,600 additional needs payment claims are currently being received each week and of these 300 are for new accommodation kit-outs.
To deal efficiently with the volume of claims being received and to ensure a consistent level of service, local community welfare officers are now supported by a network of national administration support teams based in seven hubs located around the country. These hubs take on routine administrative tasks associated with claim processing, which frees up front-line community welfare officers to deal directly with clients and their claims and allows them to respond to any other events or incidents that arise. These measures show the clear commitment by my Department to support customers. The community welfare service support hubs have also played a vital role in the response to priority projects, including supporting people arriving from Ukraine, extreme weather events and the increase in international protection applicants.
There are no delays in any of the support hubs. All claims received by a hub are made ready for decision as quickly as possible and returned to the local community welfare officer within a short time for decision. There are no backlogs and work on hand is within normal community welfare service processing levels. Where the required claim application forms and documentation are supplied, claims are sent to local community welfare officers on the same day. Where it has been identified that a person has an urgent or immediate need, regardless of whether they have provided all the required documentation, these claims are referred immediately to a community welfare officer.
Community welfare officers are physically on site each day in over 50 Intreo centres across the country, where they are available to be seen without an appointment during business hours from Monday to Friday. In addition to meeting people in Intreo centres and Department of Social Protection offices, community welfare officers can facilitate an appointment within a short time of a person requiring such a meeting, at a mutually agreed location, including at the person's home.
In fairness, I understand the Minister has given a Civil Service answer. I do not buy the claim that there are no delays because I have seen too many of them. I accept what has been said in terms of the logic of removing the administrative burden from individual officers and operating hubs. I have sent information on particular cases to the Minister. We need to examine this issue. There are hold-ups. As I said, I have multiple examples.
On 9 January, a conscientious lady I know got new accommodation through a local authority and applied for a new accommodation kit. My office dealt with her and when we got in contact on 30 January we were told no application had been made. We were then told everything was being dealt with through the hubs in Cork. I am aware of multiple other issues, some of which I will detail in my supplementary question. There is a problem. I see the logic. We need to make sure the system works. If material is being lost, whether that is an email or something that has been handed into an Intreo office or provided through a pre-addressed envelope, we cannot have that set of circumstances.
The Deputy brought a number of incidents to my attention, which is particularly useful for me because we can learn from and act on that. The information pertaining to the people the Deputy has raised with me is confidential. We have gone through all of that and have come back to the Deputy with an answer.
The intention is not to lose documents or anything like that. The tracking of the receipt of documentation submitted to the office is being followed up. We are going through the issues the Deputy has raised. We do not want this to happen. We want people to get their payments efficiently. The Deputy will appreciate the thinking behind this. There is a lot of administrative work.
Community welfare officers are very skilled people in what they do. It was felt that some administrative work could be done by somebody else and community welfare officers could then continue to deal with people face-to-face. They want to see people and hear them on the other end of the phone or whatever else. There are no delays in any of the support hubs and all claims received by hubs were made ready for decision as quickly as possible and returned to the local community welfare officer within a short time for decision.
I appreciate the Minister following up on these issues because some people are in constrained circumstances, to put it simply. That is obviously beneficial.
I see the logic around streamlining. We need to make sure we catch whatever issues are happening regarding materials being lost. I have previously raised the issue of one lady who is raising kids with a number of disabilities. I am also dealing with someone who is going through cancer treatment and was dealing with the local authority about two exceptional needs payments. One case was closed on the basis of the information the woman had sent in and in the other she was told the office had not received the materials but then found them.
I accept that the Minister has looked into all of these issues individually and she and her offices will do everything they can to make sure we catch these teething problems, for want of a better term. We cannot take away from the huge work being done by community welfare officers. If we are streamlining the system, we need to make sure that works and there are no delays to people who, as I have said, are under constrained circumstances. We also need to make sure that materials are not being lost because there are wider issues around that.
The Deputy and I think the same way on this. We want people to get their money. Like the Deputy, I want them to get it when they need it. We are sorting out the issues the Deputy has raised with me and will learn from them. I advise all Deputies to bring any issues to my attention and I will take them up and see whether we can get them sorted. The Department of Social Protection is here to help people. People come for help when they need it. Our job is to provide that. In fairness to the many thousands of staff who work in my Department, they do a great job. If we need to take learnings from any new system that we set up, I am happy to do that and make the system better.
I spoke to the Tánaiste about the criteria in respect of the fuel allowance yesterday. We spoke about people being on pensions, including private pensions. I know of a family where a husband is 66 years of age and the wife has a private pension. They are below the level to qualify for the fuel allowance, but still cannot get it. What will the Minister do about this? Will she update the criteria? What will happen? Older people receive money from social welfare payments. What is the situation regarding the fuel allowance?
The Minister can revert to the Deputy with an answer on that because we are out of time. Has Deputy Ó Murchú something to say to the Minister before we conclude?
Yes. It concerns the launch date of the reformed reasonable accommodation fund. The Minister dealt with some of this earlier in respect of reviewing the entire process, particularly facilitating those with disabilities to enter the workplace. At times, there was a requirement on them or the employer, and it probably did not work perfectly regarding assistive technologies and so on. We need something that works to help the people in question to get into work, thereby benefiting society across the board. We want it as soon as possible; it must be quicker, better and faster.
Out of courtesy, I will reply. We have done much work on reasonable accommodation because employers were not taking up the grants. We want them to do so in order that places can be adapted for people with disabilities to come to work. That is the number one point. We put a lot into this, so it will be launched very shortly.
On Deputy Fitzpatrick’s query, could he bring the case to my attention so I can examine it? I expanded the income criteria for the fuel allowance for the over-70s and many have benefited from that. I will examine this specific case if the Deputy sends me a note on it.
