Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department introduced a series of measures to maintain social welfare payments while assisting with social distancing measures designed to combat the spread of the Coronavirus.

Fortnightly payments were introduced to minimise the need for people to attend and queue in banks or post offices to collect payments, so helping people restrict their movements to essential activities only. These were introduced on a ‘payment in advance’ basis so people did not have to wait two weeks for a payment.

Some payments, such as Maternity Benefit, Paternity Benefit and Parental Benefit, which are paid exclusively into a customer’s bank account by Electronic Fund Transfer, have reverted to a weekly payment pattern. The reversion of other schemes to weekly payments remains under close review given the need to maintain social distancing.