Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I heard the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, say last night that unless there is a compelling case the Government does not want to see a single post office closed. I came in here twice in the last year and begged that a post office in Duncormick - a small village near where I live - be kept open. It was the last post office in the parish of Rathangan and more than 1,200 people in the parish wrote to An Post demanding that it be kept open and gave the different reasons it was so important to them. We had many people who were not computer savvy and many elderly people who did not have any transport. They needed the post office in the village.

An Post said "No". We then looked at trying to get a post office into one of the shops in the village. Again, we got many people to sign a petition demanding the post office. What happened the second time? We did not even get a reply. I raised the subject with the Minister but he insisted that An Post is a State body and that it has to make a profit and must do this and do that.

Unless there is an active approach from the Government, post offices will not survive. They are now going to be asked to compete with Tesco, the second most profitable supermarket chain on the planet. It is ridiculous to think that small post offices of any nature are going to compete with the Tescos of this world. The only way the post offices will be maintained is if the Government decides to maintain them and if it decides definitely that no more will close, no matter what.

Last night, I was worried to hear the Minister say:

An Post may be the best-known and most successful indigenous brand we have. However, this will not suffice if it is not able to provide the services demanded by its customers in the way that those services are required and in the location where those services are needed.

He went on to suggest that people might like to go to the shopping centres for their postal services. If he thinks it is a good idea to allow the post office to creep into Tesco, he obviously does not think it a great idea to keep post offices alive. Many post offices, small shops and small pubs have closed and what has the Government done about it? Nothing. If it does nothing, these things happen.

It is false economy. Villages are dying; they are becoming wastelands. What does that create? It creates further unemployment, social problems and isolation for many people. If something does not have monetary value, the Government does not value it, from what I can see. I hope I am wrong and I hope the Government will prove me wrong. The post office has social value and the Government has to decide whether it measures social value or just economic value. If it just measures the economic side, then the post offices will all be in Tesco in the not too distant future.

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