Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to pay tribute to the postmasters and postmistresses who are retiring and indeed those who are continuing for the work they do and I thank the fir agus mná an phoist who deliver the services. It was mentioned earlier about new services expanding in the vans. I can tell the witnesses that many of them are bringing the bread and the paper and are bringing the only bit of life and survival to many people and that is the nature of them, they are doing it voluntarily and they are great people.

On the appeals system, who can appeal a decision? Is it the community or the post office family? If it is reviewed and a contract is awarded to another individual, be it a family member or somebody else, in the same premises or in another shop, what effect does this have on the retiring postmasters and their expected severance package? That is something that is not being mentioned at all.

Many postmasters are very unhappy that they were not afforded any sort of legal advice by either the Irish Postmasters Union or indeed An Post on new contracts being offered. There is a lot of subterfuge going on here as well as intimidation and rushing. Why were the postmasters asked to vote on a new deal referring to their packages and the new contracts without having the finished paperwork? An Post had enough time to do it so why is it engaging in these deceitful practices? Something smells very bad here in this situation.

Further, I cannot understand how the IPU, and I salute it in its job of representing postmasters and postmistresses but it has no remit to do dirty deals with An Post with the acquiescence of the Minister to banish post offices from villages. It is not its remit whatsoever. Its representatives are elected by nobody or represent nobody in those communities. They represent the postmasters and postmistresses. That was a shoddy piece of work and they should not have been cajoled along to do that and given inducements of money as well to banish community services from the very customers who were supporting them. They complained about the customers they did not have and, fair enough, many of us were not great but the people who were supporting them are the ones who will suffer most. It is very unfair. Management are more concerned with cushy offices and big jobs for themselves. Why do we not sell the GPO? We cannot get rid of the idle staff who are in there so sell the damn place and they will have to get them out. They got them out in 1916 and it was a much more important issue. It is scandalous what it going on there. The Minister has told me before that there are staff in there who are unemployed and not gainfully employed. I want him to answer that here today. It is not fair to punish postmen and postwomen out in the country in all kinds of weather who are not gainfully employed in the post office due to trade unions or otherwise. It must be outed. Why are the rural people always expected to carry the can for the waste?

Mr. McRedmond also said that he was not supporting big banks but he is also refusing to support the community banking system put forward here by three wonderful people who are up and down this country night and day researching this and they have given him the models. We have a motion here that should not have to be here today. The Rural Independents put it down in negotiations with the Minister's office and in consultation with the Department of the Taoiseach. Every Deputy accepted it. It was to give a five-year window and give over the tools of the trade, not a hand out - we are not begging for anything in rural Ireland, we want to make our way and we are proud people. Let the post office survive and not be tied behind the bank or in hock to the big banks which this Government is and the last Government was and many more as well. I will hand this motion to the Minister again in case he has forgotten about it or has not read it. That is what was passed by Dáil Éireann. We are asked every night at public meetings to have the will of the people expressed through every Member in the Dáil and have that motion put in place and not have lip service, talk and love letters from the Taoiseach to Micheál Martin about confidence and supply.

We want to have a modicum of service in An Post and we want to allow those good people to provide those services, work for the people and give people some chance of survival. Everything is not in Dublin. Rural Ireland does matter and the Government will know it when it faces the ballot box.