Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and welcome Mr. McRedmond and his team here today. We spent long days and very long nights looking at many issues in relation to An Post and at one stage, we were looking at substantial compulsory closures across the post office network. Particular credit is due to the staff, management teams, and postmasters right across the An Post network for the work they did in turning the company around. The company has transformed. It now offers credit cards and personal loans through Avantcard in Carrick-on-Shannon, sustaining local jobs in a provincial town which, previously, would not have had a strong reputation for financial services until MBNA moved in there. An Post is consolidating and growing jobs in that particular town and I look forward to the development of the SME offering, which will be a huge boost to many local businesses.

My first question is for Mr. Bridgeman. Will he outline for the committee the potential impact of a hard Brexit on the parcel business, as An Post sees it? This is of huge concern to staff in mail centres and district mail offices across the country. Will he outline how An Post is preparing for it?

As the delegates know, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is running a campaign about changes to consumer rights if people can no longer purchase goods and services from the United Kingdom. Do the delegates agree that this is a huge opportunity for Irish businesses? Irish consumers are spending approximately €30,000 online every minute, of which €20,000, sadly, is being spent on goods and services outside the jurisdiction. An Post has been engaging with local businesses through the eLocal initiative, but I do not know whether it has been a success or if there are plans to expand it or work with the Department of Communications, Climate and Environment to ensure local businesses can take advantage of the trading online voucher. When it comes to Brexit, the only opportunities on which we can capitalise are in e-commerce, particularly in provincial towns in rural Ireland, as we can bring more business through the post office and mail networks across the country. That is one opportunity on which we should be capitalising.

I am personally very disappointed by the comments Mr. McRedmond made at the start of the committee meeting. The reason I am contributing is that he has said the engagement he has had on Government services has been dispiriting. I am disappointed to hear that because, as he knows, a decision was taken by the Government, with the full support of colleagues at the Cabinet, that the post office network would become the offline avenue of choice for Government services. I am surprised that decision taken by the Cabinet does not seem to have filtered down. It is not just about motor tax, passport and driving licence applications. One issue that has come to the fore recently is that of the public services card. The post office network and postmasters could provide the identification and verification services that are so important in dealing with online services, not only with the Government but with many other bodies also.

We also need to remember that one in seven people in this country has never used the Internet. I commend the Government for moving more services online, but for the one in seven people who cannot access those online services, having an offline avenue such as the post office network is vitally important. It cannot be delivered through Government offices across the country, as suggested by some senior civil servants, because we are excluding the people mentioned from the efficiencies the online services can provide, while the post office network can provide efficient access to them. It is not only about Government services. Sites such asswitcher.ieand bonkers.iethat allow people to save up to €300 on their electricity bills can only be accessed online. Has there been any success in working with private sector companies such as Switcher or Bonkers to see if they would work with An Post for a transaction fee? That would provide huge opportunities for people to save on their gas and electricity bills.

The committee is not happy that there has not been the level of engagement we, as Members of the Oireachtas, expected on foot of the restructuring of An Post. There is an onus on all of us to send that message to every Department. It is vital to the survival of the post office network that new Government business comes through the door.

We have spoken about it for long enough. The decision has now been taken by the Government to do that, yet, from what Mr. McRedmond said today, I understand that is not filtering down through Departments and agencies. That is just not good enough.