John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I have always been a strong supporter of the small rural post office. I have said on many occasions that every effort should be made to retain them. I have a historical vested interest in that my father grew up in a post office and my sister has continued as the post mistress in the same post office. I must inform the Minister that she is not making a fortune, she is just ticking over. I am in favour of post offices providing a variety of services. Other speakers have made passionate pleas for retention of postal services but one cannot put a price on the social service which the post office provides. The postmaster knows his customers. He knows when Mary does not turn up as usual on a Wednesday that something may be amiss and he will act on that. Many of the banks are closing branches in small rural towns and customers must do their banking in an adjacent town. Social welfare payments are payable in small post offices and the postmaster of postmistress knows his or her customers. I would say that multiple identity fraud is rampant in this country but at least the postmaster will know whether a person has the correct social welfare card. I spent 28 years as a community welfare officer dealing with people on social welfare. If money is paid into a bank account the payee could be in Timbuktu and it could take six months to find out and all the while the money is being paid out. I am concerned at any threat that the post office network might lose the social welfare tender.