Mr. Ned O'Hara:

There is no incentive scheme for new postmasters. There is a capital investment scheme. As part of the agreement that we made in 2018, €9.5 million was made available for capital investment for postmasters to upgrade their post offices. Very few postmasters have taken up that option on the simple basis of uncertainty about the future. If we knew that our future would go for five to seven years, our postmasters would be prepared to take up that option, but of the €9.5 million that is available for capital on a 50:50 basis between An Post and the postmaster, less than €500,000 has been taken up.