Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The remaining 1,300 postmasters and postmistresses have voted overwhelmingly not to engage with the Fortis project because of the dire circumstances in which they find themselves. Next Tuesday they, along with their families and supporters, will protest outside Leinster House at the Minister's management of the network for the past three years.

The Minister claims he has no plans to publish a Green Paper on the network. Why not? The British Government has launched three major postal network strategies in the past ten years to deal with some of the issues that have arisen there. Over the past several years, the Minister has acted as the undertaker for the postal network. In 2001, there were approximately 1,900 post offices when today there are barely over 1,300. Ten years ago it was twice the current figure. The Minister presides over a situation where a post office closes every ten days. The Minister's legacy of failure not just includes broadband roll-out and the demise of the fishing industry but also the demise of the post office network.

The Minister claims he has no responsibility for the salary conditions of postmasters. He must have responsibility when the majority of them earn less than the minimum wage of €17,900 per annum. Should any citizen have to live on less than the minimum wage? Up to 135 postmasters are earning less than €10,000 per annum. The Irish Farmers' Journal recently highlighted the individual case of the postmistress in Lombardstown, County Cork, Catherine Healy-Byrne. Her smiling face has been behind the counter for the past years but she is quoted:

To fill the contract with An Post, I must provide a premises, light, heat and insurance and stay open 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. And for providing that service I get €16,500 a year and I have to pay everything after that.

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