Mr. Ned O'Hara:

We will go back to the Grant Thornton report of 2020, which identified the cost of providing a network of approximately 900 post offices at €70 million. It identified the commercial revenue as €52 million. The gap was €17 million. We feel that there are services there. We do not want money for nothing. We feel that we currently provide services and we do them unpaid. We feel that there are more services, as Mr. Martin has pointed out, that are available. We therefore feel that the Government should make an investment and that it should allow us to provide the services that people want, and that people say they want, rather than just supporting the post office and giving it a PSO for nothing in return. We feel we have something to provide in return. We want to provide the services. The people for whom we provide services want our services.

On the issue of the contract fee, rather than the Government giving money for nothing, they should give money and we will provide services in return. We provide many services at the moment for which we are not paid. There is the service of giving advice - Mr. McEntee has just given an example of people coming into the post office to look for help with filling forms. Many people find it difficult to fill forms. Mr. Martin made a point in relation to form generation. We could help people to complete forms, either physically on a piece of paper or online if it makes life more simple. These are services that people want. I would like help filling out some forms that I get from the Government. They are very complicated.