Department of Social Protection
What was the official name of Department of Social Protection from May 2010 to Sep 2017?
Department of Social Protection The Department of Social Protection ( ) is a department of the Government of Ireland , tasked with administering Irelands social welfare system . It oversees the provision of income support and other social services . It is led by the Minister for Social Protection who is assisted by two Ministers of State . 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 : Heather Humphreys , TD - Minister of State : Joe OBrien , TD - Minister of State : Damien English , 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 Protections new responsibilities when it brought in some 1,700 staff from FÁS and the HSEs Community Welfare Service . Controversies . In August 2019 , the Data Protection Commissioner ( DPC ) found the Department of Social Protections 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 . External links . - Department of Social Protection