1.3 million people use the Post Office network every week, which distributes €4.6 billion every year in social welfare.
Irish Postmasters' Union General Secretary, Ned O'Hara says the return of weekly welfare payments will help them recover a little - but they need more funding:
"We were seen as an essential service during Covid. We did provide services. We did lose business because of the social welfare payments going to every second week: that has has been reinstated from this week in November so hopefully that will see some re-cooperation or some some recovery in Postmaster's revenue, but Postmaster's revenues would have been down like everyone else in the country".
