Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this discussion. I understand the Minister has to return to the Cabinet meeting. We are dealing with an important report. The joint committee put a great deal of work into its examination of the future of the post office network. I do not think there is anything more emotive in urban or rural communities than the closure of an office of the State, in this case, a branch of the post office network. In recent years, communities that have suffered the closure of post offices have become lesser entities because of those losses. We fear that the efforts of the Department of Social Protection to move to an electronic-based payment by 2017 could affect the income of postmasters and post offices and almost cut off the lifeline to the post office network. This fundamental point should be examined. There has been a fear over the years that social protection payments will be taken from post offices, on the basis of EU law, Irish law and everything else, and that such a measure will cause some damage. It seems that the Department of Social Protection is to issue a report on this proposal in September in the absence of any cost-benefit analysis or detailed analysis of its impact.

As long as I have been in this House, people have been talking here and elsewhere about motor tax and all the other State business that could be done in the post office. There does not seem to be any urgency about making sure that is done, however. There is always another agenda and another reason more payments are not being made at the post office. We should ensure this trusted brand, as the Minister quite rightly referred to it, operates as a community information office as well as a post office. While we acknowledge the great contribution of the joint committee in compiling this report and making proposals, this debate need to have a serious focus on what is coming down the track. Is a Department considering the possibility of changing its system of payment in a way that would cut off the lifeline to the post office network throughout the country? It is vital a cost-benefit analysis to be done and proper procedures are followed. The Department of Social Protection is highlighting the issue of savings, but we must not rush into cutting off the lifeline to the post office network. It would not be acceptable for the Department to make a decision that would be detrimental to a trusted brand that the people want to retain in their communities.

We could consider a raft of issues in the context of this debate on the joint committee's report, but I would like to put this specific point to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd. I ask him to ensure An Post and, more importantly, the Department of Social Protection are aware of the need for a cost-benefit analysis to be done before any decisions are taken. If a decision is taken on foot of the report that is to be published in September and we move on from there, it will be too late for many of the smaller post offices that depend on Friday payments and weekly payments to generate an income, a trade and a footfall in small communities. This is vital, given that the retail sector in our small villages is suffering huge hardship at the moment. This debate is a signal of our serious intent regarding the recommendations that are in the report. A great deal of work was done and many people came before the committee to give an honest analysis of where things are at.

In 1994, an association called Conserve Our Rural Post Offices started up in my own community of Kiskeam. At that time, there were plans to only have mail in specific post offices. The association has been fighting since then. There is no sense of urgency on the part of the Departments of Social Protection or Communications, Energy and Natural Resources or An Post, which is wholly owned by the taxpayer, regarding protecting post offices, which are vital throughout this country. Every politician, be they from urban or rural Ireland, wants to maintain post offices. If there was a threat to post offices some 20 years ago, very little has been done to ensure that new State business is provided through the post office network.

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