Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I will not comment on the situation in regard to any particular post office, but in terms of the broader issue, the ministerial responsibility for that matter rests with the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Of course I am anxious that services are maintained in rural communities, but that has to be done within the remit of An Post, which has the primary responsibility to make sure it is done. An Post must have a policy to provide services throughout the country.

The issue of the island post offices is different in that if one is on an island there is no question of going down the road to the next post office. If one is on the mainland, at least one has the choice of going to a post office three or four miles down the road. The reason we kept pushing money and that there is a desire to see island post offices upgraded is that there is no other choice for people on islands, and we will continue to pursue this matter.

There is a broader policy issue at stake, one which would create a very dangerous precedent. The various agencies of State have an obligation to provide services to our island communities. As a Department, we have facilitated capital expenditure on health centres, schools, post offices and a wide range of services. Once we have facilitated that we expect the service to be provided without a continual subsidy from the Department by the agency with responsibility for that service. In other words, the health authorities would provide health services and so on. It would be a dangerous precedent for us to cross the threshold. If I were to do so in the case of one State agency I would have every State agency pleading poverty when it came to providing island services.

Funding is always limited. There is funding for providing air services and boat services and we want to improve those services. For example, there is a need for cargo services to islands like Turk, Boffin, Clare and Tory. There is a need for an air service to Tory, and to Boffin in County Galway. We want to improve a range of services. If I started subsidising health boards, education authorities and the like on a day to day basis, the Deputy would quickly realise I would have no money left to improve the ferry services. I have a clear view that the day to day cost of running the services, and obligation for doing so on a parity of esteem basis with people on the mainland, rests with the various agencies. When we resolve that issue, we will then look further at this issue and I hope we will be able to resolve this An Post issue.

An Post has had its own travails in the past few years. I think they were caused, not by the cost of rural services but by other issues. We will try to resolve this as speedily as possible. It has been a long drawn out process. These matters can be frustrating, but there is no point in taking a short cut that leads to even bigger problems in the future and in my view would lead to a draw on island funds that should not be made on specific island funds.

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