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Social Welfare Payments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022

Thursday, 3 February 2022

Questions (4)

Gary Gannon

Question:

4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection the rationale for recipients of jobseeker's payments having to visit post offices to receive their payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5713/22]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

What is the rationale behind recipients of jobseeker's payments having to visit post offices to receive those payments and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Before the introduction of temporary public health measures in March 2020, the default payment method for jobseekers was cash collection at a post office. Nevertheless, one in four jobseeker payments was still paid into customers' bank accounts. These include those in receipt of a jobseeker's payment upon reaching the age of 62 years and who are given options as regards payment method.

When health restrictions were introduced in 2020, all jobseekers were given the option of being paid into a bank account. This was an exceptional temporary measure to help reduce the spread of the virus and to ensure that people could comply with social distancing guidelines. This was the right approach to take at the time when we were faced with the worst of Covid-19 without having vaccines and with only limited knowledge of the virus.

In line with the general easing of Covid-19 restrictions, I have asked my Department to revert to the normal payment rules for jobseeker's payments. This is the right approach to take in terms of supporting the post office network - a key piece of the financial and social infrastructure of the country - in ensuring that, with the removal of restrictions, we return to the pre-pandemic position. This change will initially apply to new claims. Over the coming months, my Department will work to extend the post office requirement to other jobseeker claims.

Retail has reopened nationally and is operating safely. The post office network has remained open throughout the pandemic and has processed approximately 45 million social welfare payments over the past two years. Post offices have been equipped with fixed sanitiser units so that customers can sanitise their hands. Post offices also have clearly marked signs to assist with social distancing and staff operate behind transparent screens.

I acknowledge that some people who are immunocompromised may want to avoid crowded settings. For someone in that situation, the advice is to contact the nearest Department of Social Protection office. My officials are there to help.

I thank the Minister for her response. My question was motivated by a number of factors. For the life of me, I cannot understand why we are reverting to something that could be an inconvenience. I understand that social welfare payments to recipients were always made via post offices, but there was a break from the norm. During that time, was there evidence of an increase in welfare fraud, for example? I asked for a rationale for the decision and it cannot just be to revert to what was the previous situation, which might not have been beneficial, or be about the post office network. While the network is vital to Ireland's infrastructure, why is it that social welfare recipients have to be the ones to rejuvenate it? There are any number of other factors at play in that regard, including public transport in rural areas. Given that the post office network is the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, I wonder why this matter is under the remit of the Minister for Social Protection.

Social welfare recipients have rights. It will be an inconvenience for some, for example, getting buses and the cost of travel. At a time when people are already living below the poverty line, why do they have to be the ones to rejuvenate the post office network as opposed to having a more practical online payment scheme?

All we announced last week was simply a return to the jobseeker's payment system that had always been in place before the pandemic whereby people collected their payments at post offices. This is about supporting our post office network. Post offices are an integral part of communities across the country. I have met the Irish Postmasters' Union and An Post. They were clear that the loss of footfall relating to these payments was having a severe impact on rural and urban post offices. Deputies on all sides of the House have called for the Government to put more services into our post offices. Here is an example of that happening in practice and is something that we should support. I met Mr. Tony Wall, the postmaster at Usher's Quay, last week. When we made this announcement, he told me how important this decision was for post offices. Post offices, postmasters and postmistresses do great work the length and breadth of this country.

It is without question that our post offices are vital pieces of infrastructure, but what other measures is the Government taking to rejuvenate them? People highlight any number of factors behind the decline of post offices, but there only appears to be one solution, that being, a procession of unemployed people having to travel to their post offices, stand in queues and receive payments that could more practically be made online.

The Minister referred to how immunocompromised people may not want to stand in queues. Is it now the policy that people can make a case to the Department for opting out? That would be beneficial. Will it be based on an official's discretion?

If people are immunocompromised and have genuine concerns, I ask that they contact their local Intreo offices. At the end of the day, we are here to help.

What we are doing with this is putting things back the way they were prior to Covid. As the Minister for Rural and Community Development, I want to support post offices and our rural towns and villages. We want to look at ways of putting new services in place. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has responsibility for post offices but we all have a responsibility to try to support them. I am working with her to see what other services can be put in place.

We have to be mindful that we are living in a digital age. I know that. We have to be realistic, but we can put our heads together and try to support our post offices in every way we can.

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