I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 46, 48, 75 and 121 together.
The Government is committed to the maintenance of the Post Office network and to the development of the Standard Bank Account. Mindful of the current and ongoing discussions on Government formation, any further development of policy will be a matter for the incoming Government.
The current position is that the department has a cohort of jobseeker customers who are classified as casual jobseekers. These are in-work customers who can claim a jobseeker's payment for 2 to 3 days per week or who work week on/week-off. These customers are paid by cheque each week. Not all customers will be paid every week due to their changeable work patterns.
These customers have been paid by cheque due to the changing nature of their work/claiming patterns and the short turn-around time to issue payments. It is critical to note that they are not paid via post offices under the department’s existing cash payments contract with An Post.
In line with the National Payments Plan, my department is seeking to reduce cheque usage in the economy; this is not only a matter of decreasing the significant costs associated with cheques in the department and wider economy but also of moving to a more secure method of payment and enhancing customer convenience.
When paid by cheque, customers have the option of lodging them direct to their accounts or negotiating them at banks or the Post Office. The vast majority of the department’s customers paid by cheque choose to lodge them direct to their accounts.
The department has developed its payment capacity in respect of changing work and claiming patterns and is able to offer payments direct to accounts in financial institutions for casual Jobseeker customers thereby increasing customer convenience. This is in line with wider departmental policy where the focus is on ensuring that in-work customers are paid by the most convenient method possible.
Consequently the department has written to its casual Jobseeker customers asking them to provide their account details to enable direct payments to financial institutions.
I want to emphasise that the department does not issue these cheque payments to Post Offices. This process does not reduce the number of existing cash payments through Post Offices under the current contract between the department and An Post.
I want to reiterate that what the department is doing is moving customers from cheque payments to the much more secure, customer convenient and cost effective payment method of payment directly into accounts in financial institutions. This is entirely consistent with the National Payments Plan and in line with payment methods that now prevail across the economy. The department must consider the most efficient payment method for our customers who are in employment most of whom get their salary payment into bank accounts. To have weekly income (work + welfare) payable in two different ways is a highly inappropriate and costly way of dealing with people in employment. The department’s focus must be on our customers.
Customer choice will be maintained. Customers, if they wish, may continue to receive cheque payments in the medium term. To date the take-up of this option has been minimal.
In respect of working groups arising from the “Kerr” Report, The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is actively working with An Post and others to set out a clear implementation plan for all of the actions in the Kerr Report.
The report clearly sets out the challenges that An Post and Postmasters face as they ensure that the network remains relevant in the context of an inexorable shift in consumer preferences, including the trend towards digital transactions.
The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources anticipates that this work will take no more than 6 months. The Department of Social Protection is engaging with this process as appropriate.
