Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At this juncture it is clear from the working groups that something must be done. There is to be restructuring to make the An Post network sustainable, and we have spoken about it for years. An Post has been given a loan of €30 million from the Government to get itself sorted. A protocol is being applied whereby post offices will serve populations of at least 500 people, and nobody will be more than 15 km from a post office, on average. Nevertheless, I am very concerned about the way business is being done. I am not arguing that every post office ought to remain open but my concern is the way the company is doing its business.

Mr. McRedmond is speaking about rationalisation and restructuring but in my county of Mayo, 11 post offices are to close and I have heard no announcement about new services going in anywhere. On the one hand the company is applying a protocol wholesale and we have heard the announcement while the Oireachtas is in recess that a plethora of post offices are to close. I question the timing of the announcement and a special meeting of this committee had to be convened because this is causing such concern in so many rural communities. There is the practical aspect of accountability on the part of An Post as a State company.

I welcome that Mr. McRedmond is here today but what is he showing us other than that An Post is shutting down post offices? It is all I can see in County Mayo. The witnesses can speak about something else coming down the line but I have not heard any announcements about anything else coming down the line other than in generalities. There has been talk of other proposals for years. As far as I can see, the company is applying a formula that it can argue has some fairness or method but the reality is the only post offices closing are ones where postmasters have accepted a package. The company is not forcing anyone to close. It is driven by the fact that somebody has had enough for various reasons. I do not for a minute blame a postmaster for this and so many of them have delivered excellent services throughout the years. This is a different matter and it is about what the company is doing to expand services.

The Minister indicated the number of unviable post offices that will get more services but what about the other post offices? Not every area is making the same argument but I could use Ballindine post office as an example. Three businesses have expressed an interest in taking on the post office service that closed on 10 August. There has been no correspondence with these people, although one may have received an acknowledgement from An Post of receipt of the expression of interest. None of the rest heard anything subsequently. While I understand there will be a review at the end of September, the post office has already been closed. My understanding is that all the post offices that are closing could have stayed open until January. Why not have a review or consultation with the affected communities and people prepared to put their money where their mouth is and carry on these services before the post offices close? It is a bit like the horse bolting and closing the gate. People are right to be cynical about the way the company is doing its business. There is talk that services will be improved but there is no evidence of that on the ground in rural Ireland. I know there are a few places where post offices have been opened but they are not where I am from. It is not in Mayo or any of the places represented here.

There are serious business people in Ballindine who subscribe to the idea of things paying for themselves so why did not receive a reply? If there had been some consultation in the case of the Ballycroy post office, the company would know there is no other post office within 15 km and it has a population of over 600. It now has to backtrack as a result. What is happening with Ballycroy? If there had been consultation, the company would know it got the protocol wrong.

Finally, we had community and public meetings in respect of Belcarra post office. What is happening with that post office? It is a growing suburb but people are being directed to a post office one would not go to because the road is not safe. Another post office nearby, Ballyglass, is also closing down. There seems to have been no cognisance taken of that. People are having problems engaging and things are being done in the wrong way.