John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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289. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will allow casual workers to receive their social welfare payments at a post office, following changes to the way payments will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11480/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Most Jobseekers receive their payment through the network of Post Offices. Jobseeker's Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance payments are made in arrears and this means that the customer’s payment for this week is based on last week’s entitlement.

This payment calculation method for Jobseekers is easy to facilitate for the majority of customers as their income position does not change from week-to-week. My Department’s payment systems ensure that jobseeker's payments are available on the same day each week to be collected from the relevant post office.

Different payment arrangements are in place for jobseekers who are also employed on a casual basis. This difference arises as these customers tend to have varying levels of income. Consequently, it is not possible to calculate their weekly entitlement until the end of their working week.

My Department has processes in place where the customer is required to declare his or her days of employment and to have these details certified by their employer at the end of each week. The weekly employment details are then submitted to my Department where an officer arranges to facilitate the payment of the relevant rate of jobseeker's payment.

Payments for casual jobseeker customers were not paid through the post office and these customers were paid by cheque. Recent system improvements within my Department have allowed for the payment of casual workers by electronic funds transfer (EFT) into a nominated bank account, rather than payment by cheque.

There are currently some 65,000 jobseekers customers who are also employed on a casual basis. All have been contacted and advised of the option available to be paid by EFT rather than by cheque. Approximately 50,000 of these have opted to switch payment method from cheque to electronic funds transfer. Feedback has been very positive from the customers themselves who are making the switch. If customers wish to continue to be paid by cheque they can make their preference known to the local Intreo Centre or Branch Office which handles their claim.

Many of my Department’s customers are in employment. My Department’s focus must be on our customers and to this end, my goal is to make payment to in-work customers directly to bank accounts rather than having such customers inconvenienced by their having two separate payment methods; payment from an employer by EFT and payment from my Department by cheque. The option for payment in cash at An Post is not being considered for casual customers due to delays this would cause to customers expecting their money on their regular payment date.