Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State speaks to the wider context, I would like to think that, in terms of the vision for rural Ireland that we are developing, we look to the small towns, which may lack post offices, banking or doctors. Maybe there should be a minimum requirement that people would have these basic services in their small market towns and we should have a reasonable ambition of how this might be delivered. I do not mean every town, but that people would not have to travel beyond a certain radius to access some basic services that people in cities and big urban centres take for granted but for which increasingly people in rural Ireland must travel to avail of. That would consolidate communities. The post office is vital, but it is part of a bigger picture of services that we need to copperfasten for rural Ireland. Often these issues are dealt with in a more ad hoc way. I know this is more the portfolio of the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, and it requires looking at the bigger picture, but the post offices are crucial.

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