Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed to say that the Minister has failed to even make a stab at answering the question. I asked him how he plans to secure the long-term future viability of the Post Office network. The Minister has given me a couple of pages from the annual report of An Post. He has reflected on what has happened and what he has done to secure the short-term viability of the company. We have had that debate here on umpteen occasions. The fact of the matter is that for many communities, particularly for those worst affected by this Government's callous cuts of services to rural Ireland, the local post office is the most important social hub. It is the nucleus around which so much other activity is dependent, whether it is the activity of small and medium enterprises in the region or retaining the fabric of rural communities.

This is, without a doubt, a period of change. Government intervention is clearly required. All I am getting from the Government side is that it is an issue for another Minister, such as the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, or the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, but not an issue for the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten. Will the Minister inform the House, and give some confidence to the people who will be affected by the changed structure that An Post is detailing, that the Government cares about those communities and is prepared to act to protect that vital service?

See this speech in context