Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has outlined one of the reasons the post office network is so important. It is important from a social protection perspective to provide the basic payment account through the post office network. The recent pilot study carried out by the Department of Finance produced very disappointing results because An Post was not actually included in the pilot programme. There is great distrust of the banks. This has been very well rehearsed in the House and we know the reason. An Post would allow those with no bank accounts but who are clients of the Department of Social Protection to receive electronic payments. This would reduce the costs of the Department and retain an element of security in terms of identifying fraud.

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