John Gormley
Question:74 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the measures he intends to put in place in the event of threatened postal disruption. [33470/04]
View answerWednesday, 15 December 2004
Questions (77)
Written answers
My Department has a range of contingency plans to address interruption in payments through the postal or counter services. These plans are kept constantly under review to ensure that they offer the best response to any disruption to payments.
Where a disruption in An Post arises which affects the delivery of social welfare payments it is the responsibility of An Post, in the first instance, to ensure that customers receive their payment. However, my Department works closely with An Post to ensure that the most suitable alternative arrangements are put in place.
Depending on the nature, extent and length of any disruption a variety of alternative arrangements are possible. In the past, where a number of post offices have closed, payments have been transferred to other nearby post offices which continued to operate. During a two week dispute earlier this year affecting postal services in the Dublin area, my Department's local and branch offices were used as cheque collection centres.
In the recent one day dispute on Wednesday, 8 December, both letter post and counter services were disrupted. This had an impact on the Department's cheque, EIT postdraft and PPO, personalised payable order, payments. Some 93 post offices closed while nearly 1,400 remained open. Arrangements were made by my Department to ensure that EIT and PPOs due for payment on Wednesday, 8 December in the affected post offices were available for collection at post offices on Tuesday, 7 December. The majority of cheque payments due to be received on Wednesday, 8 December were received a day earlier.
A small number of payments due on Wednesday were not received until Thursday, 9 December. Cheque payments normally received on Thursday were received on either Thursday, 9 December or Friday, 10 December.
Question No. 75 answered with QuestionNo. 43.
Question No. 76 answered with QuestionNo. 35.
Question No. 77 answered with QuestionNo. 39.