Roger T. Garland
Question:44 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will consider the payment of old age pensions into pensioners bank accounts because of the high risk of robberies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Pension Payment Methods.
I am committed to providing social welfare clients with as wide a range of payment options as possible. My Department already uses a variety of payment methods — cash, cheque and personalised payable orders — to pay social welfare clients.
Progress is being made towards developing and installing the necessary support systems for the introduction of new payment options. These options will include an electronic fund transfer (EFT) system whereby payments generally can be made direct into a person's current or deposit account. It is expected that an EFT facility will be introduced for child benefit recipients during the first half of 1992. In time this will be extended to other groups of recipients including old age pensioners.
These developments will provide a choice in the method by which people can receive their social welfare entitlements. My Department are also working closely with An Post on developments of this nature and are, in principle, prepared to co-invest over the next ten years with An Post in the automation of An Post's counter services.
This will enable a wide range of services to be made available, using modern technology, to customers of An Post generally and to social welfare clients in particular. One of these is expected to be a form of household budgeting which pensioners could request for regular bills such as rent and ESB. The overall intention is to make facilities of the type which banks offer to their customers more generally available to all categories of social welfare recipients.