Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was getting fairly fed up with this for the past month or so and I suppose at the outset I must declare that I am a postmaster and contractor with An Post.

On a personal point, Mr. Daly, in his presentation, describes us as "independent retailers - postmasters - as contractors". My office is a stand-alone post office. I could not tell him how many stand-alone offices there are in the country. It is not aligned to any other store, shop, retail unit or anything else. Maybe this is the way the thinking has shifted within An Post. We now become independent retailers - postmasters. I would have thought that would have been the other way around. That is merely a personal gripe. I hope it does not reflect the attitudes in An Post.

I will address an important point under the discussion on security. I get concerned when I hear discussions about post offices' cash holdings, etc. I acknowledge An Post's support over the past number of years, with the co-operation of the postmasters, in beefing up security, not only in procedures but in equipment. A strong message should go out that the suite of time-lock safes, safes, alarms, CCTV, counter technology, etc., will more often than not leave empty-handed anybody who wishes to take it on. It would be a dangerous idea to put about that post offices are easy targets. Post offices are not easy targets, not anymore anyway. I look forward to continuing engagement with An Post in that regard.

I welcome the new system where a post office or local communities might be alerted to the possibility of closure. Regrettably, it is far too late for 800 or 900 offices that have closed over the past decade or more, but it brings me to another point. This is a partnership approach between An Post, the post offices, Government and the communities, and it gives communities a chance to react. I am encouraged by Mr. Daly's figures that An Post has reversed or offered contracts in a few cases where communities engaged. Regrettably, sometimes, as a previous speaker mentioned, the only time they realise a post office is there is when they get a notice that there is a closure. That is in a minority of cases, but, unfortunately, that happens. An amber alert system to communities on a use-it-or-lose-it basis is important.

I have a few direct questions. Has An Post entered into any negotiations with Government, Government agencies or Departments? I refer, in particular, to looking at issues such as delivering citizens' information, MABS services, outreach services, outreach social protection information services, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine outreach services, particularly for rural areas, where An Post could become strong agents of Government agencies or Departments. In many cases, some post offices do that business anyway, and they do it for nothing. I have seen it so often in my own office. We can come in with a social protection client, complete the form and, quite often, it is satisfactory. Sometimes, the last question seeks the person's payment preference as his or her local post office or bank, and the person prefers to go to the bank and thanks us for filling out the form stating that the bank is much more convenient, and one is left frustrated. What if we could turn that around? Has An Post held any negotiations or had communications with State agencies or Department to see whether post offices can attract that business because there are many rural areas in which those agencies do not have a full-time presence? We could provide those outreach services for our customers and for the citizens.

The technology in the post offices is modern and has been since the automation was introduced in the early 1990s. It continues to be state-of-the-art, but there are significant deficiencies in providing services to customers. For example, on a daily basis we receive memos but we cannot sent a memo back. If we communicate with somebody, even with An Post, it is over the telephone, which is laborious and time consuming.

There could be some way of addressing the issue to provide the consumer with the full suite, including customer complaints and extra information based on increased business for post offices.

The contract issue is a serious one for smaller offices with lower numbers of business transactions. It is still important to note that the An Post payment is per transaction, it is not a salary. The vast majority of business is conducted on the basis of a fee per transaction on a sliding scale that decreases with the volume of transactions. There is support for very small post offices - I hope I do not fall into that category - but I am concerned that the support for smaller rural and urban offices will be withdrawn. An Post could return in 18 months or two years time and state it did not actively seek to close the post offices. However, what will have happened is that it made it difficult for them to sustain themselves. If a contract comes up for renewal, no one will be bothered to take up because the remuneration will not be worth it. Complying with security requirements, providing the counter and for the different options that must be provided for will not be worth it and the community will lose out. I am very concerned that support be maintained for smaller post offices in rural areas to maintain proximity to the consumer and the citizen.

I welcome what the delegates said about the need for further business. Most post offices depend too strongly on two major contracts, those from the Department of Social Protection and the NTMA. Having all eggs in one basket is a precarious position to be in for smaller offices and communities. The debate in the past few weeks has highlighted that post offices will not survive if people do not use them. People have options in every area. They can receive payments from the Department of Social Protection through the bank or they can make bill payments through direct debits. They can still use these options free of charge in 99% of cases through An Post. The debate on what is an ongoing issue is worthwhile. The Government, the company and contractors must put in place the building blocks required. If not, consumers will vote with their feet. As sure as night follows day, post offices will close and we will have public meetings to attend.