Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Bolger and I wish her well. All of us have a great pride in An Post. That is to be seen when people, including politicians, rally together when a post office is to be closed owing to lack of footfall. There is always a great regret when that happens. Throughout Covid, the staff of An post and our postmen and post women have been a credit to the organisation. Their communication with people, in particular older people and people with disabilities, has been extraordinary. Like many politicians, I deal with a lot of older people and people with disabilities and that was the message often relayed to me in regard to An Post. I have a brother who is a postman. I know from him of all of the extra work being done by our postmen and post women. The men and women of An post who knocked on doors and engaged with people throughout Covid deserve every good thing we can say about them.

I have a number of questions for Ms Bolger. She may not have answers to all them now and, if so, that is fine. Before doing so, I ask Ms Bolger to put on her Santa Claus hat. I love letter writing. Three or four years ago when I was a Deputy I launched a campaign to encourage people to send a Christmas card by post. One of the asks at the time was that An Post would reduce the price of a stamp for Christmas. I do not think I am going to win on this one, but it would be a great if An Post, to encourage people to buy a card and stamp, reduced the price of the stamp to €1. It is just a thought but it would be a lovely-----