Mr. Brian McGann:

An Post has partnered with Tesco to develop an alternative network under the Post and Pay banner. This move is a direct consequence of the lack of a Government plan for the network. While some products and services are not currently available, the systems employed in this network are capable of offering the full range of services. We know that An Post plans to extend this network to other supermarket multiples. The Post and Pay offering is different to the Postpoint channel in that it is a branded network but to the average man or woman on the street it simply looks like a post office without the protective screen. However, the staff operating these outlets are not fully trained or vetted nor are they bound by official secrets legislation. We are not aware that the staff are trained in anti-money laundering requirements. All this represents a downgrading of the post office network and an increased risk to the certainty that customers have that their business can be transacted on a confidential basis.

The only outcome of this move by An Post will be to dilute the existing business of the network. In the past the supermarkets flirted with the idea of 24 hour opening but since it made no significant contribution to increasing the overall level of business for the most part they have abandoned the idea. This partnership with Tesco and others alone could destroy the network within two years. On behalf of postmasters in Ireland, the union cannot allow this development to go ahead unchallenged and if An Post continues to push ahead with this ill-fated plan, the union will take action to oppose the establishment of an alternative network that will cannibalise the existing post office network.

While it is Government policy to support the post office network, the realisation of this support requires a significant degree of political will and the development of a conscious regard at departmental level of the benefits of utilising more fully the network of post offices. An example of the mismatch between Government policy and departmental actions is the recent decision by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport not to make the provision of driver licence renewals available through the 1,150 post offices. Instead, the Department decided that the provision of driving licences should be restricted to just over 30 locations. In addition, members of the public can no longer apply by post to renew their driving licence. Instead, people must travel to one of the few locations to have their photograph taken. Given the distance that people may be required to travel and the time that will be taken to process driving licence applications at these locations, the new system is less accessible, more costly and more time-consuming for customers.

People may ask why An Post did not win the contract. Simply put, calling on a network of 1,150 outlets to bid for a contract requiring only 30 outlets gives the post office little chance of competing fairly with other operators. In the light of the well-established and highly successful passport express model, why did the Government not simply replicate that model for driving licences instead of spending time and money reinventing the wheel? It makes no sense unless the purpose was to create yet another quango. We believe there is a strong argument to ensure that all Government agencies actively examine the benefits of using the network but a strong political will is required to make this happen.

When it comes to drafting tenders for Government business, the IPU believes that all tenders should be structured to ensure that they can be evaluated on the basis of economic and social policy criteria. In France, for example, the Government adopts this approach and one does not find the French police driving Fiats.

In 2012 we asked Grant Thornton to assess some of our business proposals. Based on the firm's assessment, our proposals on motor tax alone could save the Exchequer €60 million over a five year period while other proposals could realise further savings of €16 million over the same timeframe. The committee has examined the issue of sustaining the post office network and many of the findings mirrored the conclusions of Grant Thornton. Late last year we asked Grant Thornton to revisit its earlier study and to report on the issues facing the network today. The findings are a matter of grave concern to postmasters throughout the country. As committee members will have seen from the presentation slides that were circulated, Grant Thornton highlighted the heavy reliance of the network on the welfare and National Treasury Management Agency contracts. This is consistent with the findings from the committee's report last year. What Grant Thornton is altogether clear about is that without the revenue generated by these two contracts the network cannot survive.

Grant Thornton also revealed in the report that between 2006 and 2012, a total of 209 post offices closed, a decline of 15% in the network. Grant Thornton examined some scenarios and concluded that if 75% of the welfare payments business was lost, fully 444 offices would close, while if the network loses all of the welfare payments business then the number of post offices that would close would number 557. Clearly, the effect on the post office network would be devastating.

Grant Thornton highlighted the fact that the post office network is a key element in the Government's financial inclusion strategy.

It stated that any weakening of the network will dilute the role it can play in helping to attain greater financial inclusion and went on to state that, given the level of bank branch closures, the role of the network in providing financial services is more vital than ever. Grant Thornton questioned the perceived wisdom of the Department of Social Protection moving to a direct electronic payment system and highlighted the important role the network plays under the current system such as the fraud deterrence element of face to face transactions, and the return of moneys to the Exchequer from uncollected payments. Grant Thornton concluded that a direct electronic payment method cannot realise these savings and questioned whether direct electronic payments would be any more cost-effective, concluding that this question remains unanswered by the Government.

The Grant Thornton report concludes that the post office network's future sustainability is at risk and that the network cannot survive without maintaining its current revenue. Options for new business, while helpful, cannot deliver income to sustain the network. Grant Thornton has also concluded that the Government needs to act now to sustain the network and, in doing so, address the issue from the perspective of both economic and social policy.

Following the publication in 2012 of the first Grant Thornton report, this committee conducted its own investigation and published its own report, which was fully supported and endorsed by members of all political parties, including Government and Independent Deputies and Senators. What has happened since the publication of this report and the earlier Grant Thornton report? What have Ministers and their Departments done to implement its recommendations? The answer, as far as we can see, is nothing, other than to give cleaning staff in Departments more work to wipe dust off another report. In the face of such inaction, when the future of the post office network is more uncertain than ever, the need for an action plan from the Government is greater than ever before. This is why the postmasters of Ireland have drafted a Dáil motion, and thanks to the facilitation of Independent Deputies like Seamus Healy, John Halligan and others, our motion will be put to the House this evening. We may not be proposing and seconding the motion, but it is our motion. It is what postmasters want to see happen. We believe that support for our motion is the only way something will be done and we hope that the Government parties will agree to support our motion tonight.

The post office network will never be fully viable on a purely economic basis alone. A value must be placed on the social policy element of what the post office is about. The post office is too valuable to the 1.7 million customers who use it each week. To illustrate how people feel about their post office-----