Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I was an Opposition Deputy, I questioned the commitment of many previous Ministers to the post office network. 

However, that is neither here nor there. I was equally frustrated that there was no movement in this regard.

I see digital not as a threat to the post office network, but as an enabler with considerable potential. The difficulty to date has been that digital is seen as a threat. It is like trying to hold back the tide. We now have a chief executive in place in An Post who sees the significant potential and resource that it presents. An Post has been slow to get back into the parcels business after getting out when it was beginning to grow and its competitors have since got into the business. An Post's one strong element is the universal service obligation. It needs to exploit that asset as much as possible. In fairness, it is developing a pilot in four towns to determine how best to utilise the fact that it has vans that go from towns into rural areas on a five-day basis. This is a small step in the right direction.

See this speech in context