Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a brilliant creative financial solution and it is a very good creative combination to make use of the great existing State asset of the post offices. People forget that there is something like €22 billion to €23 billion on deposit in the post offices and another €23 billion to €24 billion in savings. I know it is a savings bank but Irish people recognise a safe place in which to put money. I have never been asked if I would like to invest my €5,000 or whatever into something like this where it would remain alive and I would not lose it, and it would go into the community like the co-operatives of years ago in every town in Ireland which kept those towns alive.

On the question of investing €120 million, I completely agree with Deputy Bríd Smith that it is like loose change to vulture funds. It is a disgrace that we are even talking in the millions. Whether it is €60 million, €70 million or €120 million it would certainly be worth it. I agree with Mr. O'Callaghan that the Government is shattering its own asset, like shattering a clock. If a clock is shattered in its middle, everything will suffer on the outer parts. I am not suggesting that we should keep post offices with two, three and four people in them alive and well, but smaller post offices will not be kept alive if the centre is being shattered. We are also then gifting them to conglomerates by putting them into the back of Centras and SuperValus. Soon they will be in the back of Tesco as well and we will go to Tesco for everything. It will end up being the supermarket culture.

I do not understand why the Government is so terrified of the pillar banks considering the way they treated this country. There was a man in the bank the other day in Ranelagh and he went through the doors fuming because he had three or four children and he spent a half an hour trying to park only to be told that cash was not handled in that branch. We are running around trying to find out, like evictees, where we will get the cash and where we will actually bank. Although I will not be standing for election, everybody sitting around this table who will be better think very clearly and validly about the new poor. The new poor in Ireland are the guy and the girl in training and earning €30,000, or those in households earning 60,000, where they are both working. They are paying 52% tax and they have nowhere to go to get a deposit. They are living hand to mouth and there is no possibility of them saving €10,000 or €20,000. We are always talking about choice in relation to the human body but they have no choice. They are closed down in this country. They are the new poor, they are the plumbers, radiographers, young doctors, nurses and teachers and they are living hand to mouth. People better start thinking about that. It is appalling and they have no alternative. This should be done to give people a community based, social alternative. Imagine living in a country where 96% of banking is commercial. It is only 12% in Germany. As Deputy Smith said, we got a report where the whole thing was dismissed in three sentences. It is the biggest election issue.