Mr. David McRedmond:

I thank the Deputy for his support of government services. We respect his comments on consultation, or the apparent lack thereof, in respect of Thurles. It is not an excuse; we have to do our job properly. We have had to work fast on a vast range of issues to ensure we execute them but, on behalf of An Post, I fully accept the comments to the effect that it would be more helpful to communities wherever we are if we engaged in early consultation.

Before Ms Byrne answers the questions specific to Thurles, I turn to social welfare, which is gradually declining as people take more payments through electronic fund transfer. It is important that An Post is not viewed as what is sometimes called an offline channel. It is not the case that we just carry out the physical transaction while others do the digital transaction. We have invested heavily in a digital team. We have appointed a chief digital officer and developed first-class digital products. For us at An Post, the key is to use the retail jargon of "omni-channel". For whatever services, such as the provision of dog licences, the customer will know that they can be obtained from An Post either online or at a post office. An important aspect in respect of communities is that we are human in our contact. People can contact a human being for help if desired but they can also benefit from digital services.