Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As we migrate from the PUP to jobseekers these payments should, I believe, be brought back into the post office network. I accept that throughout Covid it was safer for them to be paid into bank accounts. The reality is banks are closing. I understand AIB is to close more of its branches. Where these payments are paid into the banks rather than through the post office network a significant amount of money is being lost to the Exchequer. The latter requires people to turn up every week to sign for their payment and this ensures that only the person who is entitled to the payment gets it and, therefore, there is less fraud.