Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Often, these tiger raids target post office keyholders.

As the Minister knows, a major campaign has been mounted by the postmasters and postmistresses. On Tuesday afternoon, they were to be outside the Dáil and we were hoping to discuss the issue with them at length, but we heard of a deal involving a €12 million package being put forward by An Post with the assistance of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey. The end result of the package could be the closure of 500 postal units.

Too many communities, including Priorswood in my constituency or Killiney in south Dublin, have been devastated by the closures of their local post offices and the loss of the services and social interaction provided therein. In rural Ireland and the west Cork area in particular, a post office can be the focal point for Government activity for 15 miles or 20 miles. Why has the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources not published a Green Paper, White Paper or strategy on the long-term future of the postal network as we move towards deregulation in 2009, as Deputy Durkan and I heard last night, and electronic substitution? A strategy would provide some hope to the hard-working postal service workers.

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