Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I share Deputy Mulherin's concern and that of all the Deputies. Whether one is on Tory Island, where the postmaster has told me that is where people meet on pension day, where they talk and congregate, or in Letterkenny, Castlebar or Westport, one will be meeting people in the post office and that must be the focus. The bread and butter issue in respect of the service providers, the postmistresses and postmasters is keeping the offices open. That does require Government contracts and we must keep the focus there. As I said earlier, a certain person who runs a post office suggested to me that there is a role for the Wild Atlantic Way. As a Mayo person, Deputy Mulherin can think of post offices along the Wild Atlantic Way, in small villages and towns, which could be information points for people coming in and wanting to know about the services in a particular area. Ideas like that are critical in forming the basis of Bobby Kerr's report and it is important that we continue to feed into it as legislators and remain vigilant. We have to look at other countries too. I saw a photograph recently of a post office in Australia, which was a hub, a place where people congregated, no different from in Ireland. It is the same the world over, but we have to ensure their survival through continued Government intervention.

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