Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Payments into the post office network are secure and cannot be collected by somebody illegally. If the Department wants to bring back a payment, a stop is put on the system and the payment can be sent back. I remember looking at the figures a number of years ago when, on average, €65 million per year was returned by An Post to the Department of Social Protection in respect of payments that were uncollected or where there were issues. If I ask about payments that were returned by the banks, and a higher percentage of payments go through the banks, I expect the figure to be zero. Paying that money through the post office network, while it might be more expensive, is saving the State tens of millions of euro. That is a fact. I ask for comments on those points.