Vol. 427 No. 6
92 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason people are being transferred from the new employment exchange on Mellowes Road, Dublin 11 to collect their social welfare payments at Finglas village post office, Dublin 11 which is, at present not capable of accommodating those who already collect payments there.
As part of a general programme for service improvements there is a phased transfer of cash payment from my Department's local offices to An Post and other financial institutions. My Department concluded an agreement with An Post last year which will assist An Post in modernising its counter services and in introducing a variety of new and more flexible payment options for the unemployed.
Under the new arrangements unemployed persons will be free to select the most convenient post office to receive their payment. In general, they will be required to attend less frequently at a local office of my Department.
As the new system develops social welfare customers will have the option of being paid in a variety of more modern ways, including Electronic Transfer to banks and other institutions.
There are 4,970 unemployed people registered at the Department's new Finglas office which opened in October 1992. From the outset 580 of these clients were paid by cheque and in recent weeks 744 clients were transferred to the post office payment system. It is intended to increase this number to 1,000 in the coming weeks.
The cases are spread over six post offices and the Finglas village post office is dealing with 229 of them. My Department is monitoring the situation with An Post to ensure that the service provided is satisfactory.
