Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has been a long day. I have a couple of questions. I very much welcome the €10 million for An Post. Nothing is more locally based than An Post. There is a post office in Caherconlish, a rural village in my constituency, on the outskirts of Limerick. It is having difficulty securing a successor to Kitsy Hickey, who has been the postmistress there for over 40 years. Her predecessor was there for nearly 60 years. Between them they have done nearly a century. The position has been re-advertised by An Post. I very much welcome that this funding has come forward and that Kitsy Hickey is staying on for an additional month to enable us to secure a postmaster for Caherconlish village. It is in that context I welcome the funding. I have just a few brief questions. When will the €10 million come into being? What will be the process for people to draw it down? There was a pandemic support payment. The Minister of State made reference to it in her speech. Was it for €8 million? Was that provided by the State to An Post?