asked the Minister for Finance if in view of the continuous amount of robberies of Government cash payments he will reorganise the system of payments whereby cheques instead of cash will be issued.
Written Answers. - Robberies of Cash.
458.
I assume the Deputy has in mind robberies of cash in transit to or at post offices. This cash is required mainly to pay social welfare beneficiaries their pension or other entitlements. Unless beneficiaries have current bank accounts the issue of cheques would not, in itself, be an improvement on current methods of payment because an equivalent amount of cash would still be required at the points of encashment. Encashment of such cheques at outlets other than at banks or post offices would run the added risk of fraud.
While the issue raised by the Deputy effectively falls within the remit of the Minister for Social Welfare and An Post, I can tell him that ways of reducing the risk of robbery in the area in question are under active examination and that whatever steps prove feasible to reduce this risk will be taken.