Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McRedmond and the Minister. I know the post offices are getting a battering but I think they are excellent. I even like the colour of them and the harp. I like the fact they were not based on greed, unlike every pillar bank. We have all been hurt, if not disemboweled, by the greed of the banks.

Who are the adjudicators? Where were they found? Who are they? What are their qualifications? What were the centralities and the boundaries of their adjudication? Did they visit Kilmeaden? Did they visit Killeshandra, Gurteen and Ballindine? As a reporter I would wander into towns years ago and one would think there was nobody there, but one would be foolish to think that because there were huge communities.

I would also like to ask about the financial services because I am a great believer in the Sparkassen model and the Kiwibank model. I am not convinced that they are not the way to go. I am convinced we need to look at this as a creative solution, but we are not doing it because the Government is terrified of the pillar banks. That is my opinion of it.

The Minister mentioned community banks, that he is interested in the community and that he will bring in community banking. Will he explain under what auspices he will have this community banking? The banking products, all of which I agree with, will be under the auspices of our existing pillar banks that I would not allow in my back door. Will he use these pillar banks and their products? If he will, as a conduit or an echo or a road into the post office, in what way will he change their profit margins? Will he start from scratch and say, "Well boys, come and work here and not in Ranelagh or Baggot Street"? If he is working under the auspices of the post offices, he is working to a different model here and he will answer a 1% or 2% for the new poor in Ireland. Call the young guy earning €30,000 who, along with his wife or partner, does not have a hope of ever getting a bedsit. Will the Minister say exactly what his banking products are and under what auspices? Will they be new social community banking, or will they be the pillar banks with manners put on them?

We should watch our language. We cannot use words like "the closure of 159 post offices" in the same breath as the word "historical". I would like to find out about the 231 that are left with collapsing incomes. Will the Minister say what he will do about that? The post office is a brilliant organisation but one must remember that it takes in a lot of money. Some €25 billion is on deposit. I have my little €5,000 there for a rainy day. What are the post offices giving back to the community? I know they are running a service but what are they actually giving back? It is like the book Move Fast and Break Things, which talks about Amazon and Google, which make billions, but do they build social housing? I do not think so. I would question that.