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

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate on the future of the post office network. It is an issue that has been debated on Question Time over the years and a whole raft of issues arise. The same themes keep coming up, namely, the trusted brand of An Post, the retail network it has throughout the length and breadth of the country and the excellent work being done by postmasters and postmistresses, as well as the support and respect they command within their local communities.

It is time we directly challenged An Post. It has been saying it wants to keep open the retail outlets and to engage with communities, yet post offices have been allowed to close the length and breadth of the country, particularly in rural communities, although urban communities have the same problems. Why is this? Many issues has been put forward by Government Departments, in reports by the Oireachtas joint committee and in the Grant Thornton report in regard to what services should be available. The first thing we have to establish clearly with the board and company of An Post is that, as a people, we want to maintain the highest number of offices possible. It then comes to the issue of viability. If we are going to take the viability route, and we have had these arguments back and forth over the floor of the House, then we are acknowledging that we will not maintain the post office network as it is currently. We have the trusted brand and the retail network, and if these need to be put to better use, then a whole raft of changes will be needed in order to maintain them. Three years ago, I suggested having the post offices as Government offices, which they have been in many places. This is based on the trust the postmasters or postmistresses have in their own communities among all age groups, who go to the post office for advice and for many other things apart from financial and social welfare services.

We have to challenge the board and management of An Post, once and for all. They are hiding behind viability and a whole raft of issues. For example, if a family member does not want to continue the business, An Post will instead install a unit in a shop. The latest issue arises in regard to Tesco, which raises a fundamental issue for the future of An Post. We have to challenge An Post. There is a trusted brand and retail outlets the length and breadth of the country which need to be preserved. It is a State company. We have to make sure An Post is in synch with the Government if the policy is that we are going to maintain every single one of these post office units throughout the country, as they should be maintained, given they have been providing a massive service through the years.

We have seen what has been lost, particularly in rural communities. People continuously ask me whether the policy is now to close down rural Ireland absolutely. It is very hard to argue with that because it is what is seen to be happening. We have to challenge the board and management of An Post directly as to what their policy is and whether they are going to step up to the plate. My colleague on the joint committee mentioned the driver licence issue, which was made so difficult that An Post could not tender for that contract. The reality is that every single Government contract should be put through An Post. It is a State company. While people talk about viability, there is a huge social aspect to An Post. I have seen communities that have lost their post offices, and they fall away immediately. I could mention many of them, including Mweeling, Tullylease and others in my own area. When they lose their post office, the next thing is that the local shop goes. The community is left with just a post box and its identity is lost.

The reality is that An Post is far more than just a commercial entity in rural communities or in any community. We have to value our communities in more than commercial terms. As I have said on several occasions from both sides of this House, rural communities have provided a fantastic service right across the spectrum from education onwards, but we are ignoring that. We are driving our people into urban society at a huge cost. In the 1960s, housing policy led to huge urbanisation, and society is paying a massive price for it still, for example, in west Dublin, Limerick and other places. This policy of urbanisation is completely wrong because we are leaving behind a massively rich resource.

I go back to my two points about the trusted brand and the retail units. We cannot allow them to be lost because they are fundamentally important to communities the length and breadth of the country due to the services they provide as well as the employment they give to postmasters. All the reports have shown it is high time that we route every possible avenue of Government into the post office network. There are units on the high street in every community. They can and will provide a massive service if An Post and its board are fully challenged and told they are charged with making these offices viable, not closing them and saying they are no longer viable or cutting the salaries of postmasters and postmistresses. If they are challenged directly and told it is their job to make these commercially viable, I guarantee they will have to step up to the plate, but only if it is put fairly and squarely on their shoulders to make them commercially viable.

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