Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The post office network is probably one of the most important retail networks in the State. There are approximately 3,700 people working in it and 99% of all addresses are within 10 km of the network. It is massively important but a few weeks ago, Mr. John Daly, director of retail operations for An Post, appeared before my committee and he stated that 500 post offices are not economically viable. Using the yardstick of economic viability, they do not have a future. Another brutal statistic was reported in the past week. Only 37% of farms are economically sustainable. Those two statistics shed massive light on the damage that has been done to rural society in the past number of years. How can the Minister of State ensure that post offices become economically viable?

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