An Post has denied claims made by Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mulloley that “hundreds” of old age pensioners were unable to access payments due to power outage related issues caused by Storm Eowyn.
Commenting on X, Mulloley said, “I have just been informed that hundreds of old age pensioners who turned up for their weekly payments at post offices in some of the worst storm effected areas of the midlands and west have been told they cannot be paid today due to computer outages.”
The former RTÉ journalist added, “This is absolutely unacceptable. I have asked the Taoiseach to urgently intervene ..more shortly.”
Responding to the claims, An Post said this was “absolutely not the case”, adding that payments made throughout the West and Midlands could have been experiencing “some isolated delays” but that local arrangements were in place to make the payments this afternoon.
It added, “Only one post office in the country is still offline through power outage Story attached above from Galway media is from yesterday.”
Mulloley in turn responded saying, “An Post say that despite the computer outage the local post office staff had the right to pay out previous weeks pension payment but pensioners I spoke
to this morning say this didn’t happen as the computer wouldn’t allow it and they were advised to drive to other towns.”
An Post it will “continue to support the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) in response to Storm Éowyn and its impact, checking in on the well being of elderly or more vulnerable people on their delivery routes.”
The Galway Advertiser reported that as of this morning 11 post offices in Galway were closed due to power outages.
A spokesperson from An Post told the news outlet that, “The scale and complexity of the damage caused by this storm is by far the worst in living memory,” adding that many payments were being transferred to Galway GPO.
She urged customers to check the status of their local post office at anpost.ie saying that Galway GPO “cannot pay out ad hoc payments on behalf of other offices. This is to ensure the security of the customer’s payment and DSP funds,”.
As Gript reported last week, some 278,000 homes, farms and businesses were left without power in the wake of Story Eowyn, while over 100,000 were left without water supply.
The ESB said that electricity supply had been restored to 490,000 homes, farms and businesses throughout the country. However, up to 100,000 ESB customers faced the possibility of being without power past today’s date.
“We apologise to customers who have been without water for a few days and ask for the public’s continued patience during this challenging time, some customers are also operating with restricted service as treated water storage reservoirs and networks recharge.
“In locations where water supplies have been impacted for longer periods, we are deploying alternative water supplies. Details of these supplies and their locations are being posted across our website and social media channels as they become available,” she added.