Transfer of Health Service Executive (HSE) income supports
The Citizens Information Board made a submission in May 2007 in relation to the transfer of Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA), the ‘safety net' payment and certain payments for people with disabilities from the HSE to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
The CIB Submission mainly focuses on two areas; the operation and role of the Community Welfare Officer service and related payments, and issues relating to the provision of transport and access to services for people with disabilities.
The submission includes reference to and case examples of the issues consistently identified by Citizens Information Services (CISs) in relation to the operation of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance. These include duplication of means testing, a lack of uniform eligibility criteria and a lack of transparency about entitlements.
In relation to transport and access to services, the submission calls for a more comprehensive package of transport/mobility measures than is currently available to people with disabilities.
