Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ms Bolger is very welcome, as is Mr. Laverty. I am relatively new to this committee but I was in the Chair in the Seanad back in 2017 when the price increase was approved. I remember listening to the Minister at the time saying how important it was. It was a substantial increase but it has been shown to have been necessary as the company may have been facing a real viability crisis at the time. It has come through that very well.

The delivery side seems to be going very well, with parcel post and people ordering online. All of that is helping the business and helping the future. I will touch on how An Post will do that sustainably, especially in the cities where electric vehicles and bicycles can be used. I see these around, but postmen and postwomen have been using bicycles for parcels and so on for a long time.

Has an analysis of the company's customer profile, including the age profile, been done? Older people are very comfortable and more willing to put their savings into An Post than into our pillar banks. It is a real credit to An Post that the brand is so strong. People see it as safe and State-backed and understand that it was not responsible for or involved in the crash. Ms Bolger has had a career in banking. I do not mean anything personal in that. People see An Post as strong and safe and, as Ms Bolger said, an asset of the people brand.

Given An Post's customer profile, particularly in respect of age, what additional State services would An Post like to provide? I have in mind the public services card, for which I had to go to an Intreo office. Perhaps postmasters could provide those. Driving licence centres have been set up but could driving licences be processed through An Post?

What services could An Post offer to broaden its customer age profile? People save, use banking services and so on. With Ms Bolger's experience in banking, she will have seen people are not using cash in the same way they were using it even two years ago. I am concerned about broadband, not that it is a bad thing but that it may impact on An Post's customers and its customer base. People using post office services may be able to do this online when they get broadband, thereby bypassing the post office. What strategy does An Post have to address those issues?