Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Rural Independent Group for giving us an opportunity to discuss this matter. I want to pick up on Deputy Aindrias Moynihan's point about the particular role of An Post in the network. Any organisation, with a bit of imagination and commercial cop-on, would make the most of having 1,131 distribution points throughout the country. It seems that An Post is determined, at every level, to undermine and weaken that distribution operation. It did nothing to stop the Department of Social Protection from encouraging people to take their business away from the network. That policy was not reversed until action was taken by this House and the Irish Postmasters Union. An Post is continuing to pursue a model of putting products that are available in post offices into multiple supermarkets, thereby undermining the very quality of its distribution network. It is refusing to engage properly with postmasters and postmistresses about appropriate terms and conditions of employment for the job they do on behalf of the company. An Post needs to recognise that if it did not have these independent contractors, it would be missing a serious asset.

We all have ideas about what can be done. One of the frustrations is that these ideas have been around for some time. The Kerr report was produced in 2014. Everything is put on the long finger. In fairness to the Minister of State, he has laid out some suggestions this afternoon but there needs to be a timeline for action to be taken. This House needs to know when the various services will be rolled out. An assurance needs to be given that those who work in the post office network will be properly compensated. I welcome the steps that are being taken with regard to car tax but we should we doing something in respect of the driving licence system as well. Even though we are supposedly in an information technology age, one must be physically present at a driving licence centre if one wishes to get a driving licence. However, there is just one such centre in most counties. Given that we trust post offices to issue passports, I suggest that a driving licence service could be provided at post offices. Similarly, the queries that are made at all public offices, including those of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, could be resolved through the putting in place of information points at local post offices. This would encourage people to come in. We want people to use the service. We need to give them a reason to do so. There are many ideas doing the rounds but we need action now. Deputy Griffin suggested that defibrillators could be put into post offices. I suggest that the post office network - and its team of postmasters and postmistresses - needs a defibrillator at this stage. Unless it gets it, post office services will not continue and the potential to provide Government services at the 1,131 distribution points throughout the country will not be fulfilled.

See this speech in context