James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It closed 288 post offices. Since we took over, only 22 post offices have closed nationwide. The Longford-Westmeath constituency backs up this statistic. Since 2011 there has been no post office closure in either county, whereas over the three-year period from 2005 to 2008, Fianna Fáil managed to close six offices in Westmeath and three in Longford.

Deputy Troy also asked the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, to stop sending out letters from her Department with a clear recommendation to use commercial banks in preference to using the post offices. Once again, the Deputy is a few weeks behind with his remarks. A number of weeks ago, Granard, Newtownforbes, Kilbeggan and other post offices alerted me to the existence of these letters. I went directly to the Minister and raised my strong concerns. I then criticised the letters, and this was well documented in local media. Following my representations to the Minister, Deputy Burton, and my vocal criticism, she made clear to me in late March that no more such letters would be issued. Therefore, I suggest the Deputy refrain from asking the Minister to stop sending out letters that have already ceased to exist. He should perhaps take a leaf out of my book and request that the Department of Social Protection write to all individuals who received these letters, clearly outlining the limitations and restrictions that their local banks have put in place when it comes to accessing their pension payments. This would be a more constructive approach to take.

This legislation essentially sets out to protect personal data during and after the implementation and licensing of the new national postcode system, which is due to be rolled out during the summer. There has been much discussion about the possible benefits and downsides to the introduction of the new Eircode system. I believe the benefits of the system outweigh any potential negatives. Those of us who are supportive of Eircode will argue that the new system will bring benefits to consumers, businesses and rural communities while improving the delivery of public services. It will become easier to shop online, which has the knock-on effect of progressing the development of Irish online commerce. Eircode will also make it easier for emergency services to locate addresses, particularly in rural areas.

As a rural Deputy, I have come across many instances in which emergency vehicles have lost valuable minutes trying to find the location of a rural home. The introduction of Eircode will be of huge benefit to emergency services. Rural and urban homes will receive a unique code, which means any emergency vehicle can easily find its way to an individual's home as quickly as possible. The director of the national ambulance service, Martin Dunne, alluded to this benefit when he said "Eircode will assist in the rapid identification of non-unique addresses." There are many such addresses throughout the country.

At present, this Government is doing a lot to ensure we have a modern national infrastructure. The Minister is ensuring the roll-out of fibre broadband to rural areas and the upgrading of roads to our major urban centres, which means that communication links are becoming much stronger. Therefore, it makes sense that Ireland's postcode system follows these advances and upgrades to a modern and sustainable system. It will ensure there is greater accuracy when it comes to addresses. The days of explaining to delivery people or taxi drivers that they have to go through the crossroads, take the second left, turn right at the T-junction and the house is fourth on the right will be gone. Eircode will direct anybody directly to the front door thanks to a simple seven-digit code.

Eircode will also have a positive impact on business. To highlight rural Ireland once again, it is very common for townlands to have a number of households with the same surname. This has always provided a challenge with regard to the proper delivery of services to a rural location. Eircode plans to combat this through the provision of the unique identification numbers, which will cater for the 35% of addresses in Ireland without a name or a number. This will surely improve the logistics of a business in terms of optimising routes and delivery schedules. I urge all business owners to ensure they are properly prepared for Eircode. The amount of preparation will vary depending on the size of the business, but little things like displaying the business's Eircode on customer forms, websites, social media or anywhere the business address is shown will help ensure a business is prepared for Eircode. The success of Eircode for businesses will be as a result of the wide-ranging consultations that the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has held with An Post, commercial delivery companies and other stakeholders to ensure that their needs and the needs of their customers are adequately matched.

While I am on my feet, I will say that it is very important that we provide additional services at post offices. This would save the taxpayer a significant amount of money, estimated at somewhere in the region of €53 million. It would help businesses and save jobs. I am extremely anxious, as I have said time and again, to see rural post offices across the country maximised and strengthened. I know the Minister is working on this and I would like to see it happening. The Grant Thornton report on the future of the post office network in Ireland highlights the benefits of making motor tax payments, additional financial transactions, and household and hospital charges payable at post offices. This could save the country a great deal of money, it would bring real reform and it would strengthen the whole concept of the post office. It is very important that we increase the role of the post offices across the country. A post office is more than just a service; it is a community facility.

People meet and congregate in post offices. This is an important part of the fabric of rural life, and such interaction needs to be developed and encouraged.

The introduction of the new Eircode system will bring significant benefits to customers and businesses while improving the delivery of public services. The improving and upgrading of our infrastructure is a welcome move and will be extremely beneficial for our rural communities.

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