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

The big issue, as the Minister of State will be aware, is that the pandemic payment finishes at the end of the year. The postmasters must give six months' notice to An Post if they decide to retire. Many of them will want to make a decision at the end of June. It is extremely important that the Department give some outline as to how the scheme will work and, generally, the level of payments that will be involved. The last thing we want is for there to be any degree of uncertainty as to how much they will get. There may be postmasters deciding to relinquish their positions at the end of June and they will go for the safe bet of retirement. That is not what we want. I know this is a really tall ask, but I ask that a serious body of work be done between now and the end of the month to give a general outline.

I am not expecting it to be the finer detail but, generally, the postmasters would be aware of the level of support they get from the State. I know it is a tall ask but they have to give six months' notice and 30 June is the date. I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with that. It is very important so we might follow up on that. Overall, it is a very good news story.

It is important that people would understand that the €8.5 million is over 18 months and the €10 million is over 12 months. I cannot say enough for the post office network. I remember many years ago hearing a certain businessman speaking about setting up a business in Ireland and he said the network is where the cost is. We have to harness An Post as a community service with its network. There are several points. When the driving licence comes up for renewal, could An Post tender for that? We have to find other elements and have a national perspective to bolster what it does. It has gone into banking and I believe there is huge scope to promote this area.

The committee might follow up with the Minister of State to get some flesh on the bones prior to the end of June. I suspect the Irish Postmasters’ Union and its members will be very interested in that, particularly given the pandemic payment has been a huge factor with them in terms of support. I very much welcome that and commend the Minister of State on the great work she has done in this regard.

It would be remiss of me, given Deputy Naughton’s role as Minister of State with responsibility for aviation and international travel, not to make reference to our meeting with the DAA today. I do not know if she has had the opportunity to watch it.