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

An Post brought in the firm of consultants, McKinsey, to assist with the strategic review. As Minister, I brought in NewEra to assist the company and to go through the financial projections. It is imperative that I have the best possible information available to me and having a resource like NewEra is of huge benefit in that regard. The Deputy is right that a do-nothing scenario is not acceptable. If one looks at the figures from 2000 to 2010, when Fianna Fáil was in government, one sees that 721 post offices closed because there was a failure by successive governments at the time to take definitive action vis-à-visthe post office network. I am not about that. Five Members of the Oireachtas made a submission to Mr. Bobby Kerr. I was one of those five. I feel passionately about this and believe that there is a future, as do the vast majority of my colleagues, particularly those from rural areas. We can plan out a future that involves digital. I do not think it is about holding back the tide; it is about exploiting that resource.

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