Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is ironic that we have just been talking about overheating in one part of the country but as the Minister of State, who is from Mayo, will be hugely aware, the problem in many parts of rural Ireland is that there are not enough people. This Government has done virtually nothing except exacerbate that problem. What is happening with regard to the post offices is symptomatic of the ability of this Government to commission reports, evaluate plans and publish documents that have already been published many times previously in different guises while doing nothing. I am the first to recognise, because I live in the real world, that post offices face a challenge. I am realistic enough to accept that there is a challenge in the migration to e-payments by many citizens. However, I do not accept the inaction by the Government because there are many people who would avail of more services in post offices if they were available.

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Whereas for some of the population and particularly those who use iPhones, tablets and so on, e-booking and e-payments are very handy, there are many people who think that is a very mysterious world and much prefer to do the thing in person.

Bobby Kerr published his report in January 2016 and it is now March 2017. A working group was established; it had one meeting between July and November 2016 but we have still had no action. I repeat what needs to happen: motor tax; white-label offerings and projects in telephony, energy, financial services and banking. The Minister of State knows the menu.

The issue here today is not what needs to be done. The issue is whether the Government will do it. If it does not do it, we will not be talking about 80 post offices. I hear from postmasters and postmistresses that persisting with the status quowill mean that very cleverly, the Government and An Post are forcing them out of business. It is not viable anymore because the Government will not give them the alternative services to address dropping mail volumes and dropping revenue that is happening in every post office in the country.

Finally, let me say the Government is closing the post offices and it will not give us broadband either.

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