Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are all aware of the importance of the post office as a key part of the infrastructure of rural villages and towns throughout the country. Often they stand alone as the last bastion or outpost and as a place for the provision of communal services where people, especially the elderly, can come to meet and discuss matters. We have numerous reports, including the Kerr report, the report of the Post Office Hub Working Group and the McKinsey report, and are now suffocating in a sea of vague commitments but nothing concrete has happened to date. Will the Minister put an end to the prevailing uncertainty and seize the initiative? We know what is required which is to recognise the social value of the post office network to the people of rural Ireland.

See this speech in context