Welfare officers ‘at breaking point’

A SHARP rise in hardship claims has prompted community welfare officers to demand an increase in employee numbers so the needs of desperate individuals and families can be met.

Community welfare services providing medical, mortgage and supplementary payment assistance are reaching breaking point, it was claimed. Claims to officers for mortgage assistance shot up some 70% in 2008, said SIPTU.

There has been a cap on community welfare officer numbers as they are under the Health Service Executive (HSE) and its recruitment embargo, it added.

SIPTU’s health professional branch officer Kevin Figgis said the failure to boost officer numbers alongside the increased demand for welfare services threatened to plunge families into tragedy.

“Our members are trying to provide frontline assistance to people no longer able to feed their families or pay a mortgage,” he said.

According to the country’s largest trade union, in some regions applications for medical cards through officers rose 20% between 2007 and 2008.

In the same time, claims for supplementary welfare rose 45%. Since Christmas alone, claims to officers for mortgage assistance jumped 12%.

Community welfare officers going on maternity or other leave are not being replaced, say representatives.

In Kerry, five of the 25 officers set to take maternity this summer are not scheduled to be replaced.

In Roscommon, there are six officers to meet emergency needs — the same number as 30 years ago, says SIPTU. In Galway, officers processed an extra 9,500 claims last year compared with 2007. Officers in recent weeks have also been told to cut their travel mileage, it added.

Representatives say the general reply from HSE managers is that officer numbers cannot be increased for “cost containment” reasons.

The HSE did not respond to calls last night.

New figures, meanwhile, show government payments to people with little or no income have risen by more than €600 million in the past 10 years, with the figure predicted to top €1 billion next year.

The projected 2009 figure for the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, mortgage assistance and emergency welfare payments, is €956m.

The scheme is administered by health boards on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.