Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed by the Minister's response in one sense and very disturbed in another. He talks about the whole-of-government analysis, which appears to be a good idea, but where is the urgency here? Why was this not announced and set up when the report from the Oireachtas committee was issued? I would be concerned not only if I was a postmaster or somebody working in or using a post office locally, but if I was a businessperson on the high street of a small town or village to hear that the commercial and trading businesses are moving out of small rural towns into supermarkets based in larger county and provincial centres. Where does that leave my small town and small towns around me because this is State-sponsored migration of business and people will surely follow? Communities have suffered the loss of many services over the past number of years. The closure of schools, banks, Garda stations and local businesses has resulted in a reduction in infrastructure and identity for communities. The loss of these services, coupled with emigration, has meant that the heart has been ripped out of many communities. The post office network is part of the fabric of many communities in cities, towns and especially in rural areas. Therefore, the protection of the post office network should be viewed as a vital and intrinsic part of the campaign to hold our local communities together. Our post office network should perhaps be considered and renamed the public services access network.

As a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, I was part of the working group that drafted a report on the future of our post office network. It laid out a number of recommendations as to how the post office network should be made viable. Given the social benefit of personal contact that exists between post office staff and their customers, the committee recommended that other Government services be made available through the post office network. Considering the isolation that can exist in our society today, especially among older people and in rural Ireland, it seems appropriate that Government services should be moved to a facility that people are comfortable with and have confidence in. These payments could include motor tax renewals, hospital charges, business rates, rents and other Government payment services.

It is also important that communities be given adequate notice of their local post offices being in danger of closure. This news has been sprung on communities too often, leaving it too late to reverse the decision. The Oireachtas report suggests that an amber light warning system be put in place to alert local areas that their post offices are at risk of closure and to allow communities to respond.

It is clear that the social welfare contract is vital for the survival of the post office network. As highlighted by a Grant Thornton report, if the social welfare contract was lost, more than 550 post office closures could be expected. Even if the social welfare contract was kept at a reduced rate, there would be well over 400 post offices at risk of closure. To maintain the post office network, the full retention of the social welfare contract is necessary. We should also remember that An Post set up and successfully ran the national lottery at a profit, yet it was taken from An Post by the Government.

There is an onus on the Government to work with An Post to develop a post office network that is efficient and of maximum benefit to the community it serves. The programme for Government agreed by Fine Gael and Labour almost three years ago stated: "We will ensure that the network of post offices around the country is maintained and that communities have access to adequate postal services in their locality". It is time for the Government to live up to this commitment and ensure that the post office network is maintained.

There is also an onus on An Post to examine its business model. I agree with the Minister's suggestion that it could usefully meet, for example, the Irish League of Credit Unions, ILCU, to explore a mutually beneficial arrangement to make credit union services more easily accessible by members. This is all the more vital as local bank branches close down. Neither the Government, society nor An Post can or should attempt to halt electronic communications or electronic funds transfers, EFTs, although it is disturbing to hear stories of people being forced by the Department of Social Protection to nominate bank accounts. However, we have a nationwide post office structure and a trusted brand with easy access for citizens. In many cases, it is one of the few public service facilities available to locals. The post office network and this Technical Group motion deserve and should receive all of our support.

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