Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy Healy on bringing this motion before the House and I am delighted to be a co-signatory. The programme for Government states that "we will ensure that the network of post offices around the country is maintained and that communities have access to adequate postal services in their locality". It is disappointing, therefore, that the Government is refusing to accept this very sensible motion before the House this evening. We all accept that a well-functioning post office network is essential to communities the length and breadth of the country but that network is under immense pressure. As the Minister knows, 209 post offices and sub-post offices were shut down between 2006 and 2012. As I am sure he is aware, the Grant Thornton report warns of the potential closure of another 557 post offices if An Post loses the social welfare contract. Last night, the Minister said there are no plans to shut down further post offices. This is welcome but it must be backed with action, commitment and policy.

We can learn lessons from our neighbours in the UK. Consumer Focus explored the long-term effects of closing post offices in Devon. It found that many consumers now have to take lengthy journeys to post offices at significant expense, that many people in SMEs have to travel long distances to access post office services at considerable cost in time, that 60% of rural post offices provide the only village shop and that in virtually every instance where the in-shop post office was closed, it had a significant effect on the viability of the shop and in a majority of cases, the village shop subsequently closed.

I am sure what happened in Devon is very familiar to Deputies here and I would like to mention two examples in my own constituency. The first is in Arklow. The arrival of a shopping centre at one end of the town and a large supermarket at the other end has put the main street under a lot of pressure. The post office remains one of the reasons people visit the main street. To An Post's credit, it is installing a disability ramp and upgrading the interior of the post office and acknowledges the importance of the post office to the main street in Arklow. However, this post office, as with so many around the country, is under pressure. Any move to close it would be a disaster.

The second example is in Kilcoole. The postmistress of Kilcoole, Cathriona Whiston, was here last night and heard the Minister speak. She said she was shocked to hear him say that people show a preference for on-site provision of service rather than walking to a separate location to conduct their business. She believes the Minister is wrong about this. In her experience, people want to be on their main streets. She believes they go to shopping centres because their main streets have been let run down and that the post office is the only thing holding many main streets together. As there is no bank in Kilcoole and no post offices in Newtownmountkennedy or Delgany, her post office's over-the-counter service is vital for many people but, again, it is under pressure and should it close, it would be a disaster for the local community.

So what is to be done? Mail volumes across Europe are in decline. An Post's mail volumes have fallen 30% since 2007 so change is undoubtedly needed. The challenge is to embrace the new without destroying the old. We need to renew the post office for the digital age without destroying the bricks and mortar businesses of our towns and villages. To its credit, An Post is trialling some innovative products. They include the online shopping channel, foreign exchange, Postfone and an SME digital trading platform. Much good work is being done by An Post and by the postmasters but they need Government support. They are asking the Government and Minister to come up with a plan and to lay out a vision for the future and a way of getting there. We need an inclusive debate with the Minister, the Oireachtas, the postmasters, An Post, the Communications Workers' Union and representatives of local communities. In that light, Deputy Healy's motion is entirely sensible.

There is no downside to the Government accepting this motion before the House tonight. The Government should do so and in an act of good faith to all stakeholders, it should withdraw its counter motion and accept the motion from Deputy Healy.

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