Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. The clock is against us this afternoon. I thank Ms Bolger and wish her well as she starts out in this role. I would, however, argue with one of the points Ms Bolger has made. It is not personal but I believe the track record of An Post over the past several years has been to consolidate the post office network. That is a nice soft way of saying it will close down every second post office in rural Ireland. That is what has happened in reality. Very few of those 190 closures have happened Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford or Galway. They have happened in rural parts, such as County Clare and other counties in the west.

We need to look at what the post office really provides I accept the Bank of Ireland partnership has benefited the consumer and PostPoints are very convenient for periodic users of the post office network, but in real terms we must consider the postmasters who have been the backbone of the community for many years. There are so many other roles they could have, such as in community banking. Many parcels are darted across the country each day. People may order four or five pairs of jeans, keep one pair and send the others back to the retailer. That kind of retail is where consumers have gone. I am not sure An Post is perfectly positioned for that. I hope Ms Bolger can lead that in the chairperson role. Perhaps she will cast a fresh eye over the rural post office network and try to right some of the wrongs of recent years. I wish her every success.