Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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9. To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question Number 48 of 6 April 2016, the number of casual workers and part-time jobseekers who use bank accounts and the number of social protection recipients who use post offices to withdraw payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8083/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As at end of March 2016 the number of social welfare customers whose welfare payments were issued by my department through its current contract for cash payments with An Post was 784,260. These payments and customers are spread across a range of the department's schemes. Casual Jobseeker customers are not part of the above figure as they are paid directly by cheque and not through the department’s contract for cash payments with An Post. The department is currently migrating these cheque payments to payments direct to bank accounts as per previous PQ answers and for the reasons set out in this answers.

The department is unable to say how many of its casual jobseeker customers use bank accounts. However it is noted that most of this cohort of customers have selected payment direct to their bank account as a payment method for their social welfare payments. The department will have more detailed information on the numbers of these customers who receive payments direct to their bank accounts in the next number of weeks.