Mr. David McRedmond:

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked what we will do about people who need to travel to access a post office. We have looked carefully at the situation. I keep saying that this is not random; it has been planned. We have worked it out and we have done it as well as possible to make sure post offices are as close to people as possible. The result of one of the key bits of research we did before we started the process was that people wanted post offices to be where they do their shopping. That is a key part of the location strategy. It says it is a social service and it should be treated as such. We would have 500 post offices if we did not treat it as a social service. That is our obligation. That was our commitment, as I outlined in my opening contribution. We absolutely believe in that commitment.

In response to Deputy Fitzmaurice's point, we are not in breach of the contract with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The contract requires us to meet the Department's criteria, which refer to having a post office for every community of more than 500 people within 15 km of 95% of the population and within 3 km in urban areas.

We absolutely meet that commitment. Not only do we meet it, we do a fantastic job with social welfare. It is flawless. I have been with An Post for 18 months and I have not received a single complaint. We do a fantastic job with social welfare and I would like that to be recognised by the committee.