Ms Debbie Byrne:

Yes, the post office can do motor tax, and anything that involves a payment. We should at least be an additional payment office for services such as council tax, etc. That is one easy way of looking at it. The systems are there.

Before passports went online there was the passport express service. As the IPU said, it was very successful. A lot of services have been digitised. I do not think there is now any one individual thing that is going to be a silver bullet and put a lot of money into individual post offices but it is a collection of services involving being the front office for the Government. The printing of forms is a really big option and any licence applications to the Department of education, health or agriculture. We could group them under licence applications and payments and forms. The electoral register is a very interesting idea as well in terms of getting that right. We know how important that is.