10 August 2000

DUNGANNON LEADS ON WELFARE REFORM, SAYS MAURICE MORROW

Dungannon is leading the way in providing the public with a more integrated welfare system focussed on the needs of the customer, Maurice Morrow MLA, the Minister for Social Development, said today.

Mr Morrow, making his first visit to his home town since his appointment as Minister, was speaking at the newly-refurbished Dungannon Social Security Office.

The office is one of two pilot projects in Northern Ireland - the second is in Lisburn - where staff from the Social Security Agency (SSA) and the Training & Employment Agency (T&EA) work together to help jobseekers with their benefits and training and employment needs. The Minister continued:

"The success of this one-stop shop initiative is reflected both in the reduction in unemployment in the area and the improved levels of customer satisfaction. It is paving the way for a much more integrated welfare system across Northern Ireland in the future.

"I would like to congratulate all the staff both in Dungannon and at Lisburn who have been working very hard during an exciting period of change. Their efforts were rightly recognised when the office recently won the Price Waterhouse Cooper award for innovation."

The Minister was welcomed to Dungannon by Chris Thompson, Chief Executive of the Social Security Agency; Geraldine Reynolds, Deputy District Manager with the SSA and Seamus Gunn, T&EA District Manager.

For further information please contact the Information Office at the Department for Social Development on 028-90569219.