Department of Social Protection

Departmental team

The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada, Store Street, Dublin. The departmental team consists of the following:

• Minister for Social Protection: Dara Calleary, TD
• Secretary General of the Department: John McKeon

Overview

In carrying out its mandate the department undertakes a variety of functions including:

The department formulates appropriate social protection policies and administers and manages the delivery of statutory and non-statutory schemes and services. It is responsible for the delivery of a range of social insurance and social assistance schemes including provision for unemployment, illness, maternity, caring, widowhood, retirement and old age. Payments are made to nearly 950,000 people each week with over 1.5 million people directly benefiting from those payments. The budget allocation for 2021 is €25.1 billion. Prior the dissolution of FÁS in 2013, the department took over its employment support functions.

Payments are generally divided into three groups:

• Social Insurance (or contributory) payments which are made on the basis of PRSI Contributions.
• Social Assistance (or non-contributory) payments which are made on the basis of satisfying a means test.
• Universal payments (such as Child Benefit or Free Travel) which are not dependent on PRSI contributions or a means test.

The department provides its services through a network of 126 Intreo Centres and Branch Offices throughout the State and, increasingly, through its Mywelfare.ie portal.

Intreo Centres, launched in 2012, were a rebranding of the Social Welfare Offices around the State, updated to reflect the Department of Social Protection's new responsibilities when it brought in some 1,700 staff from FÁS and the HSE's Community Welfare Service.

Controversies

In August 2019, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) found the Department of Social Protection's processing of personal data during the issuing of Public Services Cards (PSC) for use in transactions between a person and a public body other than the department itself to be illegal.

The commission also found that the blanket and indefinite retention of documents and information provided by people applying for a Public Services Card violate data protection law. The Data Protection Commission has given the department three weeks to stop all processing of personal data where a PSC is being issued solely for the purpose of a transaction between a member of the public and a public body. Meaning that the data held on more than three million card holders must now be deleted.

Agencies

• Citizens Information Board
• The Pensions Authority
• Office of the Pensions Ombudsman

History

The department was created by the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1946 as the Department of Social Welfare. This took effect in 1947 with James Ryan as the first Minister.

Alteration of name and transfer of functions

References

References

1. "Gov.ie – Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection".
2. "Merrionstreet.ie – Intreo the New Employment and Support Service Launched, 15 October 2012".
3. (16 August 2019). "Watchdog finds Public Services Card breached data protection laws".
4. (21 January 1947). "Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1946 (Section 3) (Commencement) Order, 1947".
5. (21 January 1947). "Social Welfare (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) (No. 1) Order 1947".
6. (10 October 1947). "Social Welfare (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order 1947".
7. (20 September 1966). "Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order 1966".
8. (8 July 1997). "Social Welfare (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997".
9. (27 July 2001). "Charities and Street and House-to-House Collections (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2001".
10. (18 June 2002). "Social, Community and Family Affairs (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002".
11. (25 June 2002). "Community Affairs (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002".
12. (27 April 2010). "Family Affairs and Social Inclusion (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2010".
13. (27 April 2010). "Social and Family Affairs (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2010".
14. (1 May 2010). "Redundancy and Insolvency Payments (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2010".
15. (26 July 2017). "Labour Affairs and Labour Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017".
16. (26 July 2017). "Social Protection (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2017".
17. (12 December 2017). "Community Services Programme (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017".
18. (13 October 2020). "Employment Affairs and Employment Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020".
19. (20 October 2020). "Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020".