Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Is the Minister aware of the statements made by the new CEO of An Post that hundreds of post offices are likely to close? I understood the retention of the post office system was an integral part of the development and maintenance of services in rural Ireland. There was a slight dust up between my good friend the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, and the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, about who was responsible. As the senior Minister, has Deputy Heather Humphreys clarified the position? I worked very hard in the Department of Social Protection to ensure it maintained services and used the post office network. I now see that even the collection of the television licence fee is out for tender. This is really important to people as I find when I go to small towns and villages. The last Government succeeded in preventing the closure of almost all post offices, but it now seems that hundreds of them are to close.

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