Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work of many people in bringing us as far as we are this evening, including staff working in Deputy Mattie McGrath's office, all the Independent Deputies and others. Recent reports on the imminent collapse of the An Post network and the almost immediate closure of 700 outlets demonstrate how this and previous Governments have let down middle and rural Ireland and a critical community service which seems destined for the dustbin. It is now clear to all that in May 2016 Mr. John Moran was a messenger for official Ireland in announcing that the State cannot afford rural Ireland. His statement, which indicated a preference for a "stack them and pack them" policy, was likely not all his own but as a former Secretary General of the Department of Finance, he would have had common purpose with some of the people in the know and must have been privy to some insider information at that time. There is no need for casualties, as Mr. Moran put it, or pulling back services from parts of the country that are perceived as less efficient. I am proposing an efficient and effective model for the post office network.

I will put forward the following points for all to understand and to demand a viable and valid alternative approach to the development of An Post services and the maintenance of all current post offices as a critical part of communities, which they have been. The first point is that 15 years ago New Zealand post office services were in almost the exact same position that Irish post offices find themselves in today. Rather than undo a national network and a serious national asset, Kiwibank was established. It has been a wonderful success, clearing more than $100 million in profit last year.

I acknowledge to the Minister of State and the House, in case anyone says I have a conflict of interest in this, that I am a postmaster of a small rural post office.

The national payment system should be nationalised and handed over to the NTMA or An Post. These payment systems are currently owned by commercial banks and the Irish people have more than paid for them by bailing out some of those banks. The national payments system is the weapon of control over the State and the Irish people, which the commercial banks can use at any time to effectively shut down the ATMs and more.

An Post should be charged with providing a public banking service to every member of the community as required. An Post bank, having the same rights to operate as any commercial bank, should become a primary source of credit to Government in preference to the use of bonds as a mechanism to fund Government. Currently, Government debt is costing approximately €6 billion in interest per annum. A major share, if not all, of the Government debt could be borrowed from An Post bank or other Irish banks, thus causing up to €6 billion to be kept in-house or recycled. No share of that potential saving requires foreign direct investment. An Post bank would create new opportunities for local savings and investments to be reinvested locally and leveraged for the benefit of the entire community. The thrust of the economic development in Ireland must not be dictated solely by reliance on FDI. There needs to be a sea change in attitude and the true development of local and indigenous industries which have the potential to deliver several hundred thousand jobs thus reinvigorating communities with sustainable enterprises and incomes at a family level, not devoted primarily to debt servicing.

Ireland requires new banking competition including competition from public and community banks. An Post bank would provide a service to the community and not be a direct charge on it. An Post bank could provide credit funding for essential infrastructural development such as hospitals, social housing, schools and roads, etc.

An Post has a reputation that is second to none. At a time when many of our banks were discredited, let us down and left an awful lot to be desired, the two institutions that were left standing were our credit unions and our post offices. The An Post network of 1,100 outlets has a top class computerised system, which is a national asset and should not be undone or sold off. There can be absolutely no argument by Government of the shortage of money to deliver a postal bank; one licence, at €10 million, and another €10 million for a set-up is affordable.

The focus of An Post bank would be threefold - to provide basic banking services to most all, to provide funding credit to State and local Government as much as possible and to create new investment opportunity for potential funds.

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