I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together.
The information requested by the Deputy in regard to unclaimed DSP payments is set out in the following table:
An Post unclaimed DSP payment issues
Year
|
€m
|
2011
|
83.1
|
2012
|
68.3
|
2013
|
65.6
|
In accordance with long established government accounting rules and procedures, payments routed through An Post are brought to account by the Department for expenditure purposes upon encashment (i.e. when the customer presents at a Post Office to collect their payment). Where customers do not to collect the amounts due for payment within a specified period or where customer circumstances change and payments are individually stopped by the Department the payment authorisations go out of date and are regarded as lapsed issues. In 2013 the value of lapsed issues as provided by An Post was €65.6 m.
Where the authorisation has lapsed but entitlement remains the customer is entitled to a subsequent payment. The Department does not maintain a cumulative record of issues which have lapsed and are subsequently paid.
Payments made by EFT are paid directly from the Department’s bank account to designated customers bank accounts and are recorded as expenditure on the date of issue. By their nature they do not give rise to unclaimed or contested claims on the Department’s payment system. Occasionally however EFT payments are returned by the Department’s bank as having been unapplied for reasons such as customer account closure or error. These details are investigated and where entitlement remains the customer is entitled to a subsequent payment. The Department does not maintain a cumulative record of unapplied EFT credits which are subsequently paid.