John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Can he get that for me? The "schizophrenia across government", as Mr. Griffin described it, is causing havoc in terms of business for post offices. Mr. Griffin can imagine the position of a postmaster in an office where customers come in waving the letter asking whether they now have to open a bank account, against the backdrop of a history of closures in the post office network, despite there having been few closures in recent years. This causes a lot of difficulty. One must ask whether one should invest in one's business or not, whether one is going to be closed or whether the Government will close one's business. By the latter, I refer to an An Post business decision.

The other issue I see is that as the Department and all of us serve the digital agenda, there are those who will not march to the same drumbeat. There are those who are comfortable collecting cash because they are familiar with doing so, and there are those who are simply marginalised because, as I believe was said during the week, 25% of the population have no broadband. There are elderly people who simply do not want broadband. In fact, some people do not want to live in the fast lane. As governors of society, we have to accept that and accommodate it. I suggest that the Department of Social Protection and some activities and actions within An Post network are frightening the daylights out of businesspeople who are already under pressure. I suggest there is an onus on the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and An Post to ensure any negative actions, such as the issuing of the letter in question, are put to one side until such time as the two groups report.