Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The situation was well described by the Irish Postmasters Union which stated:

Post offices are an important strategic asset for Ireland and we must ensure that the network is sustained for the future. The Grant Thornton report highlights how important the post office is for communities, especially in rural areas and for the elderly, disadvantaged and financially excluded. The network of post offices is too valuable to lose. The contribution of the local post office in sustaining the economic life of communities, especially in light of bank branch rationalisation, cannot be underestimated. Now is the time to act so that the post office, a vital ingredient in the life of communities throughout the country, is not lost like so much of the infrastructure that has already disappeared. The cost of losing the network cannot be understated in both social and economic terms.

If we only make decisions on the basis of the financial bottom-line, it will leave much to be desired. If I was prepared to maximise my own profit in building a house, the building might not be quite as good as it should be. There are many such matters to be considered in this context.

I ask the House to forgive the parish pump element, but a post office in Duncormick, a village near my home, has been closed. Some 1,200 people wrote to An Post appealing for it to be kept open. It was the last post office in the parish of Rathangan, and there is no post office left there now.

An Post seems to believe that if people do not have to travel more than 10 km, that is grand. The reason so many people wrote to complain is because it is too far to travel to another post office. Many old people in rural areas do not have bank accounts or transport. The local post office means so much to them. Too many people are affected by such closures and the Government should not abandon them.

I realise that An Post has a financial mandate to turn a profit, even though it is a State agency. If necessary, however, the Government should help rural post offices to remain viable. If State aid is required, then that is what we should provide. It would be money well spent. Joined-up thinking is seriously lacking in this regard. It would be very positive to provide such help and, in the long term, it would be financially beneficial for the Government to keep rural post offices open, even though they may not appear to An Post to be financially sustainable.

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