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

Of the 24 net closures of post offices, four were on the northern side of my constituency. The most recent was in Milford in north Cork. I made an enormous effort, with officials of An Post, to try to maintain that post office. It was a retrograde step for the community there that the post office franchise was not readvertised.

Has the Minister and officials of his Department met the board of An Post recently? An Post seems to be content to let the network to die out. It is not making any effort to go after new business or offer new products to attract new customers. Has the Minister and his officials met the board with a view to exploring new business opportunities? Has the board taken any initiative in the past year or so in that regard? The Minister announced the whole-of-government approach in April last year and appointed Mr. Bobby Kerr to lead the business development group in January this year. My party will be making a very strong submission in response to the initial report. Has the Minister told the board that he does not want to see more post offices closing and that the company should aggressively go after new business and make sure it is relevant in the digital age in which we live? Communities are desperate to ensure their post offices will be maintained. They believe that if they lose their post office, they will lose the heart of their communities. Where post offices have closed, the heartbeat of communities has been lost. Has the Minister and his officials met the board of An Post recently to challenge it on what it is doing? Postmasters are very concerned about their futures. As elected Members, we must reflect this view very strongly and make sure there will be a viable post office network.

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