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The Minister of Social Protection, Heather Humpreys, will announce the return of the weekly collection of all social assistance payments.
The Irish Postmasters Union has welcomed the change, which will take effect later this month or early November. The IPU said that social assistance recipients can now arrange to choose between weekly or biweekly payments.
Secretary General Ned O’Hara said the biweekly payments negatively affected business in local communities.
“When the IPU met with Minister Humphreys, we presented that transactions were down 25% and that this, in turn, was having a stagnant impact on surrounding local businesses.”
O’Hara said that while the move is positive, the union is seeking a response in relation to last month’s report.
The report, produced by Grant Thornton and commissioned by the union, recommended the introduction of a Public Service Obligation for the Post Network of € 17 million. He said that without this money, the network “will face significant levels of uncontrolled shutdowns by the end of 2021.”
The PSO model has been implemented in several EU countries, including France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Finland and Poland.
The IPU is asking State Minister Hildegarde Naughton, who is responsible for the Post Office Network, to respond to the findings.
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