Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I welcome the postmasters, postmistresses, staff and families who are in the Visitors Gallery tonight, and I thank those who also attended last night. I thank the large numbers who attended a protest outside Leinster House this evening.

The Government amendment and the contributions of the Minister and the Minister of State have been deeply disappointing and even disingenuous. The amendment does not contain a single firm commitment or timeline for any action to protect the post office network. It merely postpones action further by commencing a new review while the post office network is being undermined by the Government. In his contribution last night, the Minister made the cheap headline grabbing statement that the Government has no plan to close post offices. Denying allegations that have not been made is an old cynical media manipulation trick. The real problem is that the Minister and his Government have no plans to keep the post office network open. The effect of the Government and the statements last night and tonight is a clear breach of the commitment in the programme for Government to protect post offices and the post office network. The effect of the amendment is that the actions and even the inaction of the Government will lead to the closure of hundreds of post offices over the short to medium term due to lack of business.

The Grant Thornton report shows that if the Department of Social Protection contract were lost or a substantial portion of it diverted elsewhere through electronic payments, there would be large-scale closures and job losses. Urgent action, not words, is needed to avoid this development. That is the problem this Private Members' motion seeks to address. The Government amendment fails to address the problem and it should be defeated tonight or withdrawn. Labour Party and Fine Gael Deputies who vote against our motion and in favour of the Government amendment will be held responsible for the closure of post offices into the future.

In his contribution, the Minister sought to give false comfort to the crucial contract with the Department of Social Protection, but the general secretary of the Irish Postmasters' Union said in a statement that immediate Government action is required to ensure the viability of the post office network into the future. He expressed the concern that although An Post had won the welfare payments contract, the Department of Social Protection was actively encouraging customers into using bank accounts to receive welfare payments.

He states that while post offices may have won the contract in theory, business is being diverted on a daily basis and post offices will not survive if this continues.

The Government must take a number of urgent and concrete actions to protect the post office network and honour the commitment it made in the programme for Government. Foremost among them is the drafting of an action plan. The Government must immediately provide a framework of planning and consultation between An Post, the Irish Postmasters' Union, trade unions in An Post and the Department to draw up a strategic plan to implement the commitment made in the programme for Government to maintain the post office network. The Minister must stop the diversion of business from post offices while this planning is taking place and instruct An Post to cease the roll-out of the installation of machines in Tesco under the guise of a pilot scheme. The Government must stop the Department of Social Protection instructing new jobseekers to open bank accounts into which payments will be made, as occurred recently in Cork. It must grant An Post a full banking licence which can be used by postmasters to avail of Government business.

The Minister should have provided these commitments last night and tonight. Instead, we heard waffle and plámas and action being put on the long finger. The post office network is being daily undermined by the Minister and his Government colleagues. I call on all Deputies to support this clear, precise and non-contentious motion and vote against the Government amendment which permits the continued undermining of the post office network. I commend the motion to the House.

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