Vol. 406 No. 3
197 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Social Welfare the amount paid by his Department in agency fees to An Post for the last financial year for which figures are available; whether discussions are currently taking place between his Department and An Post on an extension of agency business; if alternative proposals for the handling of this business have come from Telecom Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
An Post pay almost 70 per cent of all social welfare payments through their network of offices throughout the country. In the year ended 31 December 1990, my Department paid £21.26 million in agency fees to An Post for making these payments.
Discussions are currently taking place between my Department and An Post on the development of An Post's counter services to offer a more flexible and extensive range of payment facilities to all social welfare clients. My Department are, in principle, prepared to invest jointly with An Post in the automation of their counter services.
Proposals have been received from Telecom Éireann for the provision of electronic benefit transfer facilities for social welfare clients. These proposals are currently being examined by my Department in conjunction with An Post and Telecom Éireann with a view to seeing how they might be used to improve the payment delivery mechanisms for social welfare clients generally.
