Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is correct. As a signatory I welcome the opportunity to speak to this motion, which calls on the Government to honour its commitment to the reorganisation and development of the postal network and to maximise the future economic and social potential of the network.

The post network is in disarray. It is not economically viable and it urgently requires a strategic survival plan. We have had exhaustive assessment, analysis, reports and recommendations. Every report written has concluded with a common thread: the post office network as it presently functions is not sustainable in the long term.

Post offices face massive problems and huge challenges. There has to be a defined programme of action to arrest the decline. From Government we need leadership, vision and initiatives to rescue post offices from obliteration. We need an effective co-ordinated plan to breath life back into the network.

Post offices are an essential key part of the fabric of a rural village. They are a focal point, a centre of activity and interest to locals, and a community hub. They have a beneficial binding influence on local communities.

The problems with post offices are a symptom of what is happening in rural Ireland, namely, rural decline. The root cause of the crisis in rural Ireland is the lack of job opportunities for young people. Thousands of our young people have had to emigrate. They were forced to leave their homes, families, friends and communities. Parents are denied the privilege of being close to their loved ones and the gift of seeing them mature to adulthood. Many issues arise as a consequence of this emigration. Fewer houses are being built. There is no work for builders and tradesmen. Fewer children are being born. Schools are losing numbers, putting teachers' jobs at risk, with small rural schools facing closure. Small shops and Garda stations have been closed.

The Government and the national agencies have done absolutely nothing to correct the imbalance between city and rural regeneration. We now have a two-speed economy - one for Dublin and one for the rest of the country - operating in a fast and a slow lane.

The closure of Garda stations has left older people in particular feeling vulnerable at a time when city crime gangs are roaming the country causing fear and anxiety. That feeling of isolation is made worse by the fact that we do not have any local transport, which makes it impossible for people to socialise.

Post offices have suffered badly because of this rural depopulation, neglect and decline. Hundreds of post offices have already closed. Those that are left are wobbling. We need a renewal programme for post offices and a totally different business model. We need an imaginative creative blueprint which includes the expansion and development of new business and additional services. There are opportunities to further develop post offices as front offices of national Government, local government and essential citizen services.

An Post should be enabled and financially supported to provide a new community banking service. Most rural and disadvantaged urban areas have been abandoned by our so-called pillar banks. This Government, in partnership with the post office sector, must save what is left of the network by implementing immediate and decisive policy initiatives that are capable of reinventing and reinvigorating the network and underpinning the financial security of post offices.

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