Has the Minister given any consideration to another problem that arises for recipients of disability benefit, that of delays in the postal service? As a result some people have to live from hand to mouth over weekends. Has the Minister given any thought to changing that method and substituting payments through post offices or by some other method so that people would not have to wait for the post? In many instances such people are disappointed and find that they, and their families, go hungry over weekends.

The incidence of delays is very small, fortunately.

Not in the part of the country I come from.

Last September I introduced a new system in Cork which involved direct entry into the computers. That overcame many of the delays and other problems. Up to then people who lived a distance from central records were at a disadvantage. If a person put down a wrong RSI number or gave some incorrect information on a form there would be a delay. That occurs in a percentage of cases and the number increases from week to week. Under the direct certificate entry system certificates can be delivered to the local office, for example, in Cork, entered into the computer and cleared straight away so that further problems will not arise. The payment will be sent out within a couple of days. That extremely rapid and efficient service has spread to other parts of the country and, eventually, will operate everywhere. Most people are happy with the new arrangement. It is hard to see how any other arrangement would be quicker but I appreciate that on occasions cheques do not arrive on the date expected thereby causing problems for people, particularly if it is close to a weekend. There must be an authorisation for payment from somewhere and that must be sought from the office. The only way to get over that problem would be to permit payment at local offices. That is a possibility in the long term but computerisation represents a huge step forward.

Will the Minister accept that there is considerable hardship on that score? I am not sure about the position in Cork city but the improvements he mentioned have not reached west Cork as yet and I have received complaints from people who have been left over weekends, and sometimes longer, without their cheques. There must be some way of ensuring payment through a post office or otherwise.

That point has been adequately made.

8.