Mr. Ned O'Hara:

Yes. I have made this point three or four times already - the Irish Postmasters Union has gone through the process for two years - but as far as we are concerned, the timescale should have been yesterday. I heard the point that tomorrow is the start of it. We are prepared to start tomorrow on the detail to get this done as quickly as possible.

The issue of peace commissioners in post offices came up in a number of listening sessions we had in towns of 800 people around the country which have a post office but no bank and no Garda station. People have to travel. I understand that peace commissioners are not paid. We are not looking for a payment per sefor this role but people suggest they must travel 15 to 20 miles to a local Garda station to get their identity verified but the garda does not know who they are. The postmasters, however, know who everybody is and it is a service they can provide. The question of payment has not arisen but it is a service people have told us that they want in the local post office.