Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if there is a problem having jobseekers' payments paid directly into bank accounts, and if so, the nature of problem and the way it can be overcome. [48223/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department is committed to providing a high quality service to our customers. In most cases, we offer a range of payment options to customers including payment at a local post office via electronic information transfer (EIT), payment through a bank, building society account or certain credit unions via electronic funds transfer (EFT) or payment by cheque.

There are some exceptions whereby for administrative or control purposes we may limit the choice of payment method. In the case of Jobseeker’s Benefit and Jobseeker’s Allowance, payment at the Post Office contributes to the Department’s current approach to fraud control. Since 2008 it is normal practice to pay jobseekers in their local post-office. Exceptions are made in certain circumstances such as while a person is undertaking a course of study under the Back To Education Allowance or partaking of an internship under the Work Placement Programme or National Internship Programme and has difficulty accessing the post-office during normal working hours.

There are no plans to change payment arrangements for jobseeker customers.