Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am here as a representative of the people of Donegal just as all of us represent our communities. I will report on the post office situation in Donegal. In Greencastle, at the very top of the Inishowen peninsula, the postmaster, Cyril Gormley, sadly passed away. Very soon afterwards, An Post questioned the future of the postal service that his son wanted to continue. It was very insensitive at the time and the community was very aggrieved. A public meeting was held in Greencastle which was attended by a large turnout. The community made the case for the post office and it has been awarded a one-year reprieve. This is not good enough. They have no certainty about the future of their vital post office. In Carrigart a packed public meeting showed how much their post office means to the community. They sent a signal to all of us that we need to protect these vital rural services. I attended a public meeting in Gleneely in north Inishowen. The postmaster is retiring and the community does not know where it stands. The people are looking to see whether they can pull together and they will be forced to make a business case for what is a public service that should be fundamental for any rural community. This is not acceptable. Bunbeg in west Donegal has had a post office since the late 1800s. The postmistress is retiring and An Post has received a large number of submissions requesting the retention of the post office, but the community does not know what will happen. If the post office closes in Bunbeg, it will be the fourth post office closure in that parish in the past ten years. When the AIB branch closed in that parish the people were told by the Government of the time not to worry because the banking services would be provided by the post office. These are just a few examples of which there are many more from my county alone of how much the postal network means.

The Minister has said that the social welfare contract is retained and there is no concern at this time. The postmasters and postmistresses and the communities supporting them want to know what is the Minister's plan for the future sustainability of our post office network. How can we be sure that we will not have to compete with supermarkets in big towns? How can rural communities compete because Tesco or SuperValu will not come to small rural towns? Will people have to go to regional bases?

I want the Minister to tell the House about his plan for the long-term sustainability of our post office network, of our rural communities who are clinging to the last vestiges of their services. That is my report from Donegal and I am sure other Deputies will give him reports from their counties. I hope that at the conclusion of this debate, the Minister will give a cast-iron guarantee that he will implement a plan for the sustainability of our post office networks, a retention of the social welfare contract and search for other business opportunities such as banking which the post office network can offer.

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