Seán Barrett
Ceist:151 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the fact that payment of cheques to social welfare recipients from this country who are residing in other EC countries, including Great Britain, is made in Irish punts; that the reason given is the lack of the facility here to make the payment in the currency of the country in which the recipient resides; that the recipient has to pay a charge to the foreign bank which is known as a transaction fee in order that the cheque may be sent back to this country for calculation of the sterling or other equivalent and returned to the foreign bank for lodgement; that this effectively reduces the payment by the amount of the charge, which varies from bank to bank and can be as high as £10; and if he has any plans to provide the necessary facility to end this anomalous situation.
