Healy Rae secures a state pledge on Post Office dole payments

KERRY Independent TD Michael Healy Rae has secured a commitment from Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar that his department will no longer try to divert people receiving state payments away from Post Offices.

Last week Minister Varadkar made a commitment “that his Department will no longer take any measures which seek to actively influence customer choice in the manner of payment away from cast payments at the Post Office”.

This pledge was in direct response to a Priority Question from Deputy Healy-Rae who had asked the Minister if he would “strictly direct the people in his Department to stop sending out letters to Social Welfare recipients, asking them to give details of a bank account so they can be paid directly into the bank and not through the Post Office network”.

Deputy Healy Rae said his question was prompted when he learned that several Jobseeker’s benefit recipients in the constiuency who had recently received letters from the Department offering the option of payment into a bank account

Previous letters issued to Social Welfare recipients by the Department had encouraged them to arrange for their payments to be made into a bank account, a move which Deputy Healy Rae would have a severe impact on hundreds of Post Offices.

“I am very happy with the Minister’s response and his proactive approach, I am very glad that in the new programme for Government, it clearly states its commitment to actively encouraging payments at Post Office, this is most welcome,” said Deputy Healy Rae.