The labour and social insurance ministry has plans to house all social insurance and pension services together in a single, unified branch network extending throughout the country, ANA-MPA sources revealed on Sunday.
The ministry's plans envisions a single network to house all the services currently run by pensions and social insurance fund branches in various areas, such as those of IKA-ETAM, the OAEE fund for the self-employed or the farmers' fund OGA.
According to the ministry source, Labour Minister Yiannis Vroutsis has already given instructions to a team of civil engineers to draw up a plan for housing all social insurance funds together in seven prefectures of the country, which is due to be submitted by the end of the month.
There will be no change to the services provided but the aim is to improve the level of service to members of the public and do away with long waits and lengthy journeys. The move seeks to save on operating costs and free up real estate property owned by the various funds, which can then be used to generate extra revenue for the state insurance system.