asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs why old age pensioners were refused pension payments at Skerries post office, County Dublin.
20.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Payments.
19.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, if his Department are unable to provide the paying service on pensions, children's allowances, and so on, on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare; and, if so, why.
21.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if, in the light of complaints received, he will undertake to carry out a full investigation into the workings of Skerries post office, County Dublin.
22.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether old age pensioners are being refused pension payments at sub-post offices throughout the country; and, if so, the reason.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 22, inclusive, together.
I should like to point out that Question No. 22 is a separate question. The other three questions deal with related matters but Question No. 22 is much wider.
I am afraid the Chair cannot do anything about that. The Minister is entitled to answer in his own way.
My Department are not aware of any dissatisfaction with the general manner in which they conduct the business of paying pensions and allowances. There may be rare instances of a post office not funding itself sufficiently to pay all the pension and allowance orders presented on a particular day as the total cash required can fluctuate considerably as some pensioners allow their pensions to accumulate, but there is no question of a refusal to make pension or allowance payments properly due. On a recent occassion at Skerries sub-post office a large number of payments normally claimed on the Friday were not made until the Saturday, presumably because of bad weather on the Friday, and there were insufficient funds on hand to pay four of the 300 pensioners who normally cash their pensions at that post office. The four pensioners were asked to call back on the Monday to be paid. This was an isolated occurrence.
I should like to draw the attention of the Minister to the fact that he has not answered Question No. 20 which asked if his Department are unable to provide the paying service on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare. In addition, Question No. 22 asked if pensioners have not been able to receive payments at other sub-post offices throughout the country.
My Department are not aware of any dissatisfaction with the general manner in which they conduct the business of paying pensions and allowances.
Is the Minister not aware that considerable hardship is caused to pensioners and to people eligible for unemployment assistance if BMPs are not in a position to make payments on particular days?
That is not so. This happens on very rare occassions and is due to fluctuation in the numbers coming to a post office. I instanced what happened at Skerries sub-post office where out of 300 pensioners who should have a come on Friday and who did not—as I stated they came to the post office on the Saturday— all were paid with the exception of four who were called back to the post office for payments on the Monday. It was just that the post office did not have sufficient cash on the Saturday to meet all the payments.
Is the Minister not aware that persons who are eligible for payment of a benefit or pensions are due to that payment from the due date and are entitled to claim it on any day thereafter? The Minister's statement about pensioners who should have come to the post office on the Friday is totally incorrect and unfair to these unfortunate, underprivileged people.
I am sorry the Deputy has taken me up quite incorrectly. It is normal for pensioners to collect their pensions at Skerries post office on a Friday but as it happened to be a very wet day many of them came to the post office on the Saturday. The post office did not have the cash on hand to pay four people out of the 300 who called to the premises. I do not think that was a major incident. It has happened before. Post offices always meet payments when they are due. I agree there is the odd occassion when there may be an error in calculation but there is always a reason for it. I think the Deputy is getting hot and bothered about something that is trivial.
Is the Minister aware of similar complaints from other post offices?
No. However, in the course of the year I am sure there is the odd occassion when something like this happens but it is a trivial matter.
Has the Minister information of the number of pensions paid in post offices? Can he give the House an assurance that this was an isolated incident, out of which I believe Deputy Boland is making political capital in his constituency?
He may be trying to make political capital out of it but I do not think he is succeeding. As I pointed out, it is a trivial matter.
Four questions were answered here, apart from the interjection by the stool pigeon. The Minister appears to have missed the point that four people, one of them an elderly woman living alone, were refused payments to which they were entitled. That may be a source of laughter to the Minister or to his backbench prompter but that is not the point. Despite what the Minister has said, this was not an isolated incident. It happens regularly in this sub-post office because of the failure of the BMP to provide adequate funds. Pensioners and people entitled to unemployment assistance are refused payment on days, after the due date. It would behove the Minister to rectify the situation rather than making fun of the unfortunate people involved.
I have made Deputy Boland aware of a fact of which he did not have knowledge before. Seemingly he thought only one person was involved. There seems to be a difference of opinion between the Deputy and the post master in the sub-post office. I have not received a report from him on the matter before. This was an isolated incident and I think it is far better forgotten.
Is the Minister not aware that I was in touch with his office on 27 April last and that his secretary undertook to telephone me to explain the reason? I am still awaiting that telephone call but perhaps he has not been able to get through on the telephone. That would be quite understandable.