Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 October 2017

Questions on Promised Legislation

 

1:40 pm

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is very aware of the importance of the post office network around the country and the value that people attach to it in their communities. It is important to point out the number of post offices closed between 2002 and 2011 during the last Fianna Fáil Government was 700. However, in the past five or six years, notwithstanding the economic downturn, the number of post offices that closed was 40. Ultimately, when post offices do close it is because they become commercially non-viable and it is no longer possible to find a postmaster to run them. I am very much of the view that we should not judge the success of rural Ireland based on the number of post offices. People in rural areas, just as is the case in urban areas, use post offices less and less because more people are at work and more people have broadband and tend to do things online. If we judge the success of rural Ireland it should not be based on the number of post offices, it should be based on the number of jobs, the population, the quality of infrastructure, schools and all of these factors.

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