Now cash runs out in post offices
POST offices have been running out of cash as panic grips the country due to the severe storm.
Offices in Dublin, Louth and Offaly are reported to have been emptied of cash as social welfare recipients queued to collect payments.
The move by the Government to pay a double fuel allowance was blamed for the run on the post offices.
People collecting other social welfare payments, such as pensions, have also put pressure on the cash reserves of the post offices.
An Post spokesperson Anna McHugh revealed that roads blocked by snow meant some post offices had not got deliveries of cash.
She said this meant that some post offices had run out of cash, leaving postmasters with no option but to make partial social welfare payments.
Around 32 post offices out of a network of more than 1,120 were unable to open yesterday as inaccessible roads meant post office staff were not able to get to work.
The rest closed at lunchtime, with long queues reported in some before they shut.
Social welfare recipients were reassured that they will still be able to collect their payments at a later stage.
And bank branches have been closed, prompting fears of a cash run-down.
However, a spokesman for the Banking and Payments Federation said that there was unlikely to be an issue with bank ATMs running short of cash.