Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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1775. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for social welfare payment delays on 7 and 14 July 2025; the way in which the issue was rectified; the measures taken to prevent a recurrence; if both delays were caused by the same issue or by different issues; the steps that have been taken to prevent these issues from reoccurring; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41412/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides two main payment method options for its customers: cash collection at a post office (Electronic Information Transfer (EIT)) or the transfer of funds directly into a customer’s account in a financial institution (Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)).

On the 8th and 15th of July, officials in my Department became aware of a delay to payments issuing to customers who use An Post as a banking provider.

On both occasions, the timing of payments to customers was examined thoroughly and it was confirmed that there had been no change or delay to the Department of Social Protection’s processing of EFT payments of awarded claims to any customer.

The Department of Social Protection’s contract for the provision of cash payment services is with An Post. This contract is entirely separate to the banking services An Post provide their customers. However, notwithstanding this, Department officials have been engaging with An Post personnel to try and identify the issue, resolve it and provide reassurance to customers that this does not happen again in the future.

On foot of this engagement, An Post has confirmed to the Department that the delay to monies being credited to customers An Post bank accounts on the 8th and 15th July 2025 was caused by the actions of a third-party supplier who clear EFT payments on their behalf. The Department has also been informed by An Post that the matter has been addressed with the third-party supplier to prevent future delays.