Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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157. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the length of the contract between An Post and the Department of Social Protection to deliver social welfare payments; and when it will be renegotiated. [23609/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Department for Social Protection operates its contract for cash payment services with An Post. The Department signed this contract with An Post in December 2013 and it came into effect in January 2014. The contract ran for an initial two years, expiring at the end of 2015. However the contract can be extended for up to a further four years on an annual basis, i.e. to the end of 2019. The contract has been renewed each year since 2015 and will be considered for renewal again in late 2017.

In line with EU procurement rules the Department will issue a tender for a replacement contract to take effect no later than the end of 2019.