A move towards stepping up payment of benefits by electronic means was announced yesterday by Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan.
He said there is to be a comprehensive review of the present system whereby most payments are made in post offices.
Mr Brennan said he would hold talks soon with Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey to establish how best to upgrade the system of delivering one million welfare payments a week and another 500,000 child benefit payments per month.
Mr Brennan said that with an annual social welfare bill of €12.2 billion - €1 in every €3 spent by the State - he had a responsibility to ensure taxpayers' money was paid out in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
The plan to increase the number of payments by electronic means has run into opposition from post office owners across the State. They have sent thousands of signed petitions from customers urging the Government to protect what the post offices regard as their traditional business.
The Minister said it was not intended to dispense with the system of payments through post offices, but he wanted to give people a choice.
He would be inviting the Irish Postmasters' Union to discuss any proposals or concerns they might have.
Mr Brennan added that 59 per cent of benefits were at present collected over post office counters; 10 per cent went through the postal system to home addresses; and 31 per cent were transferred electronically into accounts at banks or building societies.
This compared with 72 per cent receiving benefits direct into their bank or building society accounts in the UK, where 14 per cent collect their money at post offices. In the US more than 90 per cent of payments are by electronic transfer.
The Minister said there would be no compulsion on anybody to receive their benefits by electronic transfer: "It is the customer's choice, and my department will facilitate whatever that choice is," he added.
"I have long rejected the notion that once people go past 65 years they somehow lose all interest in technology.
"However, I fully accept that not all older people would be at ease with technology that many of us now take for granted. It is imperative that their needs are adequately looked after, and that remains a priority."
Mr Brennan was speaking in Sligo town where he and Minister of State Tom Parlon turned the first sod for a €14 million extension to the Department of Social Welfare's northwest head-quarters.
The five-storey extension, due to be completed in October 2006 as part of the Government's decentralisation programme, will have an extra 180 staff in addition to the 454 already employed in the main building.