Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We often talk about a 15-minute city, but this model of An Post postal service delivery will not lend itself to a 15-minute city. People will have to travel significantly longer to reach the local post office. One example, as I mentioned earlier, was when Kevin Street post office closed. Residents have quite a distance to go now to reach the nearest post office, and at an older age it always proves challenging.

Rathmines has also lost its Bank of Ireland branch due to closure. Many services and community initiatives have been moved out of Rathmines. There is a desperate need for a community hub, and this post office, this building, could be the heartbeat of Rathmines. Unfortunately, the Government seems more intent on, as I said, asset-stripping and ensuring that Rathmines is left with nothing and communities are left with nothing to work with and no premises to work with or to work on. Rathmines is a diverse community. It also has many older people, and they will be severely impacted by this decision. We do not know where the new privatised postal services will be located. As I said, the new postal service will mean that if the new owner is not keen on it or decides to find some other new way of making money, that is the postal service gone from Rathmines, and it could be gone forever. That would be a huge blow. Over recent years, seven post offices in Dublin Bay South, that is, in Dublin 2, Dublin 4, Dublin 6 and Dublin 8, have closed. Rathmines needs this post office. It should be housed where it is, and this building should be safe and secure to deliver postal services for the Rathmines community.

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