Mr. Ned O'Hara:

On behalf of postmasters, I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for giving us the opportunity to present our views. I heard what Mr. Bobby Kerr said about his recommendations which I welcome. Even though we do not agree with all of them, we are prepared to work with An Post immediately to translate them into an immediate action plan. This must be done. On a personal level, I thank Mr. Kerr for his work with us in the past two years, during which he successfully overcame a serious illness.

We view the post office network as a national asset. It is a key resource in dealing with many of the challenges facing communities, both urban and rural, throughout Ireland. We can offer expanded State and financial services, as well as innovative social and community services. The network can become the State on one's doorstep by providing improved access to Government services locally and good value for the people in so doing. An Post is one of the most trusted brands in Ireland and this trust and goodwill have been represented to us. We were able to collect 500,000 signatures in a two-week period and hand them in to the former Minister, Mr. Alex White, 18 months ago. In an online poll conducted recently on thejournal.ie, subscribers of which would not be traditional post office customers, 82% of those who replied within three hours stated they wanted more services to be made available through post offices. The post office network needs the recommendations made by Mr. Kerr to be translated into an action plan immediately. Otherwise it will collapse. The network is owned by the people of Ireland and part of the fundamental economic and social fabric of the country. It is a national asset.

The current changes happening in the country are affecting and damaging communities which believe their views are being ignored and have been by successive Governments. In particular, rural communities need support to help to stop the negative multiplier effect as different services are withdrawn. For instance, when the Garda station or a bank is closed, there are few jobs available and higher unemployment. Everybody has said people have to travel further to access services and there is a negative knock-on effect in reduced footfall. Local pubs and shops close; young people become more disillusioned; more people leave and the decline continues. Post offices serve as a magnet in retaining footfall in towns and villages and, in some cases, attract an increased footfall. When post office services are withdrawn, there is less incentive to visit or stay in a town or village and other businesses suffer. The State, as the owner of the post office network, has a major role to play in redressing the issues faced by communities which experience significant barriers in accessing State services. The network currently provides sensitive and secure services and is well positioned to address gaps in the provision of State services and be developed into a network of community hubs which would see communities participate in dealing with health issues, providing financial services, engaging in social enterprises and providing information on Government, tourism and transport services.

Postmasters are paid by transaction. They are independent contractors, but they cannot select the services they offer. They depend on the Government and An Post in that regard. They cannot decide them themselves. Additional State, financial, social and community services post offices could provide include all Government payments for the Department of Social Protection, as well as motor tax, Health Service Executive, Central Applications Office, third level and licence fee payments, as well as fines. We could supply all Government forms, including identity verification forms. Research we have carried out suggests postmasters could fulfil the role played by peace commissioners. We could operate a standard An Post bank account. We can and do carry out contact transactions for all commercial banks, including Ulster Bank, AIB and Danske Bank. Technology would allow us to provide for remote health checks and have prescription drop-off points. We could provide information on transport and bookings. We could also provide for transport pooling by providing a meeting point. We could provide IT and IT training services. We could guarantee broadband provision. Post offices could be a citizens' and tourists' information centre, but these services would require Government investment, both current and capital. The level of investment required, as I have stated, would provide good value for the people of Ireland, but action is needed now.

All of the issues have been debated at length by the post office business development group set up by the former Minister, Alex White. As he stated, Mr. Kerr was appointed in December 2014 and we have worked with him for the past two years. The two working groups are almost finished their work. Mr. Kerr presented his report to An Post on 23 December 2016 and we received a copy of it yesterday. The post office hub working group which is chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, held its initial meeting last July and its findings are being finalised. All of the issues affecting the post office network have been identified and considered. The time to finalise a comprehensive five-year plan to transition the network is now. The post office network is at breaking point because of the reduction in transaction levels and the collapse of the network is imminent. Individual postmasters remain under pressure to maintain their post offices. As such, we need the action plan now. The recommendations have been made. They need to be translated into an implementable action plan, not today or tomorrow but yesterday.

We are ideally placed to make a significant contribution in meeting the challenges faced in both urban and rural Ireland. As I said, we can provide good value in doing so. We ask the committee to request the Ministers, Deputies Denis Naughten and Heather Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, to act immediately to ensure an action plan immediately will be finalised immediately with us and An Post.