THERE WAS a shortage of community welfare officers to deal with rising unemployment levels, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil. “The service was dealing with approximately 150,000 unemployed people, but there are now 400,000.”

Mr Gilmore said he had received a report stating that people had queued for 2½ hours at Loughlinstown health centre in his Dún Laoghaire constituency on Tuesday to meet a community welfare officer. They were eventually told that nobody was there to deal with their problems.

“I do not blame the community welfare officers because I know them, and realise they have done, and are doing, a fine job in very difficult circumstances.”

Mr Gilmore said many of the people now attending social welfare and community welfare offices never had any contact with the social welfare system and did not want to have any.

“It is a grim experience for them to find themselves out of work with no social welfare payment coming through, and to discover the emergency service that is supposed to assist them is not available and nobody is present to deal with their problem.”

Taoiseach Brian Cowen agreed that the Department of Social and Family Affairs had an increased workload as a result of the unfortunate rise in unemployment. Some 365 staff had been transferred from other departments, and further transfers would be required.

There had been a long-standing industrial relations issue regarding the transfer of community welfare office staff from the HSE to the department.

He said special dedicated units had been established by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin.