Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
941. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of post offices that did not have sufficient funds to make payments to social welfare recipients during Storm Emma; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11997/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of payments is a critical function of the Department for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. My Department has robust contingency plans in place to ensure the minimisation of any disruption which would impact on our ability to make payments to our customers. My Department is also represented on the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) with a view to ensuring a whole of Government coordinated response to evolving emergency situations.
Officials of the Department actively maintain a Payment Loss Incident Management Plan and this was activated when it became apparent that severe weather disruption as a result of Storm Emma was imminent. Accordingly arrangements were put in place with An Post to make early payments so that as many clients of the Department as possible could receive their payments before the severe weather arrived.
During the severe weather, Department officials were in continual communication with An Post to monitor the progress of payments and to ascertain details of any disruption. Regular updates were also provided to the public on the Department’s website, social media and via the NECG.
The severity of Storm Emma caused significant disruption to the post office network. For the duration of the Status Red Alerts all affected post offices were closed. In some case offices were unable to open at all or operated with restricted opening times due to health and safety considerations for both customers and staff. Communications between An Post headquarters and some post offices were also affected.
The national alert did cause additional logistical issues in a small number of post offices, including disruptions to regular cash deliveries. Some offices had problems at varying times during the one day but were open at other times during the same day. Given the variety of issues post offices had to deal with, e.g. power outages, staff unable to attend, communications difficulties, temporary cash shortages, it is not possible to provide a precise figure for the relatively small number of post offices where Social Welfare payments were delayed.
The vast majority of post offices were able to re-open once the alert had passed and were able to handle day-to-day payments to Social Welfare customers with the minimum of disruption. As Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, I wish to put on record my appreciation of the extra efforts made by staff in post offices across the State during the adverse weather conditions.
