Sir, - At 4.30 p.m. on February 6th I tried to find out from the health board the name of the Community Welfare Office who serves the Lower Mount St area of Dublin on behalf of an 88year-old woman. I phoned Vergemount and was asked to call a central number (6486500), where for some reason I was put through to the social work department. The very polite and concerned people I was on to suggested that I call Area 3. This I did and was told to call Dun Laoghaire. They gave me the name of the senior CWO for the area, but he was away for a week, so I got a number in Blackrock for the acting senior. At that stage I was informed that I should try Vergemount, where I started 30 minutes earlier. It was now 5 p.m. and too late to get anyone else, but fortunately I discovered that my colleague, Mr Ruairi Quinn, had the information.
For 30 minutes I did a full circle. Just imagine what it would have been like for my 88year-old constituent to have to go through this. I have no doubt that many people in this age of information transparency must go through this every day. In the days of the Eastern Health Board and Community Care Areas, we knew where to find information. With the new health authorities, it is not even possible to get a map of the administrative boundaries. If, one-year after reorganisation, I cannot find the name of the welfare officer in my neighbouring Pembroke electoral area, the question arises: who is this reorganisation for? Certainly not the citizen.
Wouldn't it be timely to have a directory of services available to the public on what services are available and the name of the person who delivers them in each community area? - Yours, etc.,
Cllr Mary Freehill, Grove Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.