Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome. I am glad to have this opportunity where hopefully we can clarify some issues. In my local parish of Aughavas, the post office is closing because the postmistress is retiring, which she is entitled to do. However, it should not be the case that if a person in rural Ireland retires that the service should be retired, which is what it means for many people. Often when someone goes sick or on maternity leave, the service goes sick or on maternity leave. That is our experience everywhere. On my way to Dublin today, I heard the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Halligan, speaking about school bus services. The same issue applies here. Services are being withdrawn from people living in rural Ireland. Similarly, the home help service is being withdrawn all over the country by the HSE. Most Ministers whom I deal with personally say they are doing their best but when they get together around the Cabinet table, it seems a corrupt political system is in place. It is destroying the country and the problem is particularly acute in rural areas and areas where people most need services. It is a corrupt political system which the Government inherited from Fianna Fáil, a party that closed hundreds of post offices, and started this rot which has continued all the while.

People talk about whether services are viable or not. Is the health service viable or sustainable? Are people eligible or are they concessionary when it comes to them being allowed to live and be active citizens in their own communities? These are the questions that are being put to us. Is that the kind of Ireland we want? Do we want an Ireland where people must make choices like that, or where, if they live in a particular part of the country and they do not have access to services? That is not the kind of Ireland in which I want to live and nor do the vast majority of decent, ordinary people. They want to live in an Ireland where the Government delivers services to them and stands up for them. This Government is not standing up for people.

Last week, I attended a meeting of a couple of hundred people in Killeshandra, a decent sized town, where the post office will be closed because the postmistress is retiring. She is entitled to do so but does that mean that the post office has to close? I have been told that it does, and that that is just tough luck because it is not viable. I am sorry but it is viable. People's lives are viable and they matter. Somebody needs to say that enough is enough and this must stop. We are told that we do not have the money and that we cannot continue down this road. We had the money to support the banks to the tune of billions of euro, and the Government continues to support them as they make massive profits but it will not even tax them. What is wrong at Cabinet that Ministers can do this? Why are they victimising ordinary decent people throughout this country? What is wrong with them?

I have discussed post office closures with the Minister. There are instances in my own area such as Gurteen, which the Chairman mentioned, and many others which are closing because the postmaster or postmistress is retiring. We have been told that there will be a review process which may re-examine them, particularly if there are other businesses that might make the post office viable. The Minister is aware of the post office in my parish where there is also a pub and a shop, and we have spoken about this. He has said if there is another business that makes the post office viable, it has a good chance of being awarded the contract but the contract may not be as good as previously. That is what I had been led to believe but that does not seem to be the case.

There is a question about the way by which the minimum service levels will be examined. An Post says, "In rural Ireland we will endeavour to ensure that all settlements with over 500 people will have a Post Office". Where does it draw the line on 500 people? Is it within 5 km of the post office, which is what I understood, or is it within 1 km? That issue needs to be addressed.

Clearly, the problem is that it is the intention of Mr. McRedmond and An Post to close these post offices and they do not care. The Minister needs to care.