The reforms will necessitate changes to some of my Department's systems, application forms and processes. I must make amendments to primary and secondary legislation. I am doing it on an administrative basis regarding the liable relative and the need to show proof you are seeking maintenance. The Department needs to distinguish between child and spousal maintenance, something which is not done at the moment, so my officials are working on advancing the various implementation issues to ensure early implementation of…

As I said, we are working on it and will bring it in as soon as possible. I cannot give a timeframe at the minute because there is a bit of work to be done on it. The Deputy asked me about the child maintenance agency. There was no consensus among the group regarding the establishment of a child maintenance agency. Even among members of the group who supported the establishment of such an agency, there were differing views about its role and remit as well as important constitutional concerns. The group examined the…

The Government is committed to the reduction of all forms of poverty, particularly, child poverty, as outlined in the programme for Government and the roadmap for social inclusion 2020 to 2025. Poverty is multidimensional and requires a whole-of-government approach. While income supports are important, access to affordable services such as housing, health, childcare and education are also critical. Budget 2023 provided a social welfare package worth almost €2.2 billion, which included a range of measures to support…

You forget that though.

As I said, since 2011, the number of children in consistent poverty has fallen by 45,000 to 62,000 in 2021 and the consistent poverty rate has fallen to 5.2%. I am not disputing that we need to do more but we were making progress. However, we were suddenly faced with a cost-of-living crisis. The Deputy can appreciate that we now need to focus on that. This crisis has had an impact and we need to focus on it. The new child poverty and well-being unit will be established in the Department of the Taoiseach in the firs…

There are other issues as well, as we know, such as the hot school meals programme, one support that is making a significant difference in children's lives in terms of food poverty. I visited a school in Inchicore yesterday and attended an event to encourage children to grow their own. It related to Tidy Towns, which we were promoting in the school. I asked the principal whether the school had the hot school meals programme and he said it could not do without it. We are supporting that and I have expanded it-----

My point is that just over two years, there were 30 schools in the programme, whereas 500 schools now get hot school meals, which is making a significant difference to children's lives. It is better for their educational attainment and, as the principal said, it makes such a difference to the children. I want to see it expanded because it is a great scheme. I assure the Deputy the Government is totally committed to addressing the issue of child poverty. The Taoiseach has set up a special unit in his Department and …

Community welfare officers are physically on site daily in more than 50 Intreo centres, where they are available to be seen without an appointment during business hours Monday to Friday. In addition to meeting citizens in the Intreo centres, branch offices and Department of Social Protection offices, community welfare officers can facilitate an appointment within a short time after someone requires such a meeting at an agreed location, including a person's home. Staffing levels have been maintained in the community…

If the Deputy wants to give me those details, I will follow up on them and find exactly what the case was. There have been other incidents where people have come forward with details, and when I looked them up, I discovered they were somewhat different from what was initially anticipated. While I fully accept the bona fides of the cases the Deputy raised, I would like to look into them to see exactly what happened because we have put every effort into reducing the length of time within which a decision is made. Com…

We have increased the number of staff. There is a full-time community welfare officer present in more than 50 Intreo offices nationwide, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. I accept there can be some very complex cases but the majority, 80% of cases, are processed in a short time. That is an indication of the service we are providing. There may be some complex cases. I am happy to look at the two specific cases the Deputy mentioned to me. We can discuss them later and I will get the details. Much of the evidence I …

My Department has a network of more than 120 Intreo centres and social welfare branch offices throughout the country which are open to customers five days per week during business hours. My Department does not currently have a specific mobile unit available in which to meet with customers, and the requirement for such has not been currently identified. We do, from time to time, make arrangements to visit a person who may be incapacitated at his or her place of residence, for example, to process an application for a…

I asked my officials who told me that, if someone needs a public services card, PSC, staff from the Department of Social Protection will go out. They have a camera so that they can take the photographs. That can be arranged. I am sorry the lady was disturbed over Christmas. I am happy to check out that particular case for the Deputy. I can only say that it is not nice if you do not have money over Christmas. As I understand, the Department can facilitate an in-person appointment within a short time for a person req…

Yes.

I will get the specific details. I will get someone from my office to contact the Deputy to trawl through that so that it does not happen again. It is not our intention. It is possible to ring up and get an appointment with a community welfare officer who will visit the house if a person is incapacitated and cannot travel. I can give that commitment because it does happen. On the broader issue, there are many ways by which people can make their applications. They can call into the social welfare or Intreo office, t…

The community welfare service, CWS, is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made quickly. There are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the scheme's normal processing levels. Complete applications are finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work in process. Exceptional needs payment applications are varied and often complex, reflecting individual circumstances. It is important to note that, w…

The CWOs, as we all know, deal with people in a humane and responsive way. There are a number of ways in which people can make applications. They can call into any social welfare or Intreo office. They can pick up the phone and ring us. They can apply online or, where they need it, they can even arrange for a member of staff to meet them in their home. There are many options available to people. The case the Deputy referred to is complex, but if a person rings up and asks for an appointment to see a community welfa…

We have increased staff numbers. There are 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. In the interim, we assigned 30 social welfare inspectors to the service to make sure claims were dealt with speedily. There is no backlog and we are down to two weeks. That is fair. Though online applications do not apply to the case the Deputy spoke about, I was pleased to see when my officials went through the statistics that there were as many people over 65 years old using the online service as there …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The CWS is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made quickly. There are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the scheme's normal processing levels. Complete applications are mostly finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work in process currently. It is important to note that, where it is clear a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort i…

If an application is made and all the information is provided, the answer is provided within two weeks. There will sometimes be cases where all the information is not provided and it takes longer. If the Deputy gives me the specific case, I am happy to have it looked into. Specific cases are what I need. Sometimes when all the information comes to hand, it might not be what it originally seemed to be. I am not saying that is true of the Deputy’s case in Cavan. We have put more staff into this section and there are …

There are a number of ways this can be done, which I explained previously. People can call into the social welfare Intreo office, pick up the telephone and ring us or apply online. If someone needs a member of staff, we will go out to his or her house. Those are all options. As I said, it is working because the number of claims waiting to be processed is down. There are two weeks in hand and there is a two-week turnaround time. If it is urgent, however, it is genuinely dealt with on the same day. In terms of domest…