Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like my constituency colleague, Deputy Coffey, I know people who recently went through the trauma of losing their local post office. I refer to the closure of the post office in Kill, County Waterford.

The big concern at the time was that the shop would close and that then the heart of the community would also be lost, which has come to pass. The concern of every Deputy and every member of the public is that over time as business diminishes from post offices, the business of shops surrounding it in the village or town also diminishes.

It is worth reminding Deputies on all sides of the House of the two Ministers who put the most business through the post office network at the moment, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, through the passport service and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton. Along with my colleague, Deputy Ann Phelan, I put the challenge to other Ministers. I welcome the announcement last night by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, of a whole-of-government consideration, encompassing central and local government and the wider public service, of the nature and extent of services that can be provided to the public using the post office network as a front office of government.

I see that as a challenge for the Ministers who are not currently putting business through the post office network. I point that out to my Fine Gael colleagues, who sought to lay the blame solely at the Minister's feet. The Ministers who are making it a viable network are two Labour Ministers, Deputies Gilmore and Burton.

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