Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá cúpla ceist agamsa freisin. All the organisations are integral to the rural community and its viability. They also have to be commercially viable at some level. There is a constant tension between responsibility to the people they serve and the need to be commercially viable.

Whenever credit unions are mentioned in this House people speak well of them. Everybody wants them to do well. However, we are still in the shocking situation of having an asset-rich organisation while sectors of Irish society are crying out for the capital to make the necessary investments. For example, there is a massive housing crisis and if the money of the credit unions was invested in housing, that would improve returns for their members and resolve one of the biggest social crises in this country. That issue seems to have become stuck. Why is the Department of Finance not facilitating what I have described? Why does there seem to be a blockage within the Department on that issue. Can the credit unions give us an update on the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and their negotiations and discussions with it? Do the credit unions feel that the regulatory system in this country does not see a place for them as fully-functioning banks?

AIB closed approximately 67 branches throughout the State in recent years. When a bank branch closes, it causes major difficulty in towns and people start to reorientate their activities towards other locations. How many AIB and Bank of Ireland branches exist with reduced services? I refer, in this regard, to those which only deal with cash on two or three days each week. Can the witnesses provide figures in respect of that matter?

Even though there are particular units in specific towns, services have been reduced. Perhaps the witnesses could detail the other services that have been reduced apart from the cash services in those banks. What activities are being used to mitigate this issue? Many people cannot access broadband and it becomes very difficult for them to fully participate in the banking system. I believe that some banking services are currently available with An Post but what is holding the banking sector back from increasing the number of services with An Post in the future? For example, deposits can be made via An Post. Is there any way that AIB and Bank of Ireland can increase the services? I acknowledge the Bank of Ireland does not have the same relationship but is there a possibility that rural communities can access banking services directly through An Post both to help the bank customers and to help the viability of An Post in the future? As for Bank of Ireland, the witnesses mentioned it has not had closures recently, but there have been some closures, for example, the recent closures in Caherdavin and Parkway in Limerick. Perhaps the witnesses could discuss those further.

I believe there is a serious crisis with An Post. I have spoken to a number of postmasters in local towns and it is becoming increasingly non-viable for their businesses to function. In an average sized Irish town, the post office is under pressure. A post office may have taken a cut of about €15,000 in income over the past number of years because the transactions are the basis of their income and those transactions are reducing. I know of one particular post office that has €90,000 annual income but two staff salaries must be paid from that. Rates, electricity, insurance and all of the other costs must also come from that. From my interaction with postmasters, and from the words of the representatives of the Irish Postmasters Union today, it seems to ring true that increasingly, the shoulders of these individuals are taking the burden of the reduction in footfall, as the witnesses have already spoken of. One of the big problems in Ireland is that we have far too few banks, believe it or not. We have two pillar banks and as a result those two banks can slice and dice the market to their particular desires. They can charge interest rates and deliver services to their particular economic desires because there is not enough competition. In Germany there are public banks with a significant, or a majority, stake in that particular economy. Why does An Post not pitch to become a bank in a full effort to deliver banking services throughout society?

I will now turn to the issue of the Irish Postmasters Union. There have been some decisions by the Government with regard to the issuing of driver licences. It must have stung postmasters around the State that a service for which they pitched ended up with a private system for delivery. An Post delivers phones currently. Is that really working for postmasters with regard to being a retailer, or at least an agent, for phone suppliers? There are many public sector organisations and people who work for public sector organisations in the State and I have never heard an organisation being as open to taking on new activities, roles and responsibilities as is An Post. I commend An Post on that approach. There seems to be an enormous flexibility among postmasters to make this system work in order that there is a viable postal service in the State.