Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I worked might and main to ensure that only a very small number of post offices closed during the period when the Labour Party was in government. The Minister has still not answered the principal question. The view has been given by post office management and by the Kerr report that half the post offices in the country are not commercially viable. That means that up to 500 post offices or more could close over a period of time. Of course, I welcome the Minister's pilot initiative, but I question if that is enough to maintain the post office network, or if the demand of many of the elements within the Fine Gael Party to privatise and outsource as much as possible is actually the dominant the philosophy. I acknowledge that the Minister's own philosophy is not that.

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