Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When the Minister transferred responsibility for the post office network back to the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, notwithstanding the fact that he is now the Minister responsible for rural affairs, he washed his hands of the post office, other than to say God speed and that he will watch how the progress goes. We know from the Kerr report that half the post offices in this country are not commercially viable. The Minister is talking about a study or a pilot with regard to, as I understand it, four post offices. The Minister is known, fairly, I think, as somebody who is quite truthful, honest and open in his answers. Can we get some serious honesty in terms of what is happening to the epayment account? The problem is that many people who use post offices have no form of current banking as referred to in European plans and in Irish plans over a long period of time. What about the motor tax services in the post office? Has the Minister had a chance to discuss that with his colleagues around the Cabinet table? What about the Minister's own four hub pilots? Can he tell us a little bit about what that is going to mean, in particular for hard-pressed rural communities? When I was Minister for Social Protection, I ensured that the social welfare business stayed with the post office as did Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív when he was Minister, even though Fianna Fáil presided over many closures. What is being proposed to the Government is catastrophic.

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