Dole offices get 115 extra staff as jobless numbers soar

The Government has been forced to appoint 115 extra staff to deal with the increasing number of workers joining dole queues around the country.

Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin said the staff will be posted to 48 social welfare offices joining an existing workforce of approximately 2,000 processing social welfare claims.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs recently undertook a review of staffing levels in dole offices amid surging Live Register figures. A report by Davy stockbrokers yesterday said unemployment is expected to reach 10 per cent in 2008 and may peak at 12 per cent in 2010.

Central Statistics Office data published this week estimates the unemployment rate hit 7.8 per cent in November with 277,200 people signing on to claim benefits. Last month alone 16,900 people joined the Live Register.

Ms Hanafin said a new department, with 18 Deciding Officers, had been established in the Townsend Street office in Dublin to tackle the backlog of claims from offices around the country.

“The extra 115 staff will be at clerical officer and staff officer levels and are being sourced from the existing Civil Service numbers both from within the Department of Social and Family Affairs and from other Government Departments,” Ms Hanafin added.

Most of the offices are to get a small number of extra staff with five in Galway, Newbridge and Waterford.