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

To answer Deputy Niamh Smyth's question, I am the Minister in charge. There may be technical issues, but the buck stops with me. An Post is accountable to me as Minister and I am accountable to the House for An Post.

I disagree with Deputy Mattie McGrath. It is not a question of sabotage. In my contribution I outlined why I had to increase the price of a stamp. I will not do what my predecessors did, namely, bury my head in the ground in the hope the problem will go away. Last year I was left with a situation, which I outlined for the House on numerous occasions, where I either had to reduce postal services in rural areas to a three-day week service or increase the price of a stamp. If I had done what the Deputy had wanted me to do and not increased the price of a stamp, he would have been the very first to criticise the impact it had had on rural Ireland and businesses. I categorically refute the suggestion and would not tolerate such a situation.

Deputy Niamh Smyth made some very cogent points. When I was on her side of the House, I made the exact same points. I encourage her to talk to my Cabinet colleagues and make the same points to them because she is correct. Myriad Government services could be delivered through post offices. The websites and technology are available. Every single post office in Ireland, with the exception of 34, will have high speed broadband outside the door. That should not be a threat; rather, it should be an asset to be exploited.

The Deputy is also correct in respect of collecting health charges and so forth. An Post needs to provide financial services. The banks have pulled out of provincial towns and rural Ireland. An Post can not only meet that challenge head on but also provide new and innovative financial services.

My final point is relevant to all of us in the House. The only time any of us go into a post office is to buy stamps at Christmas time or during the summer in order to renew passports to go on holidays or buy foreign currency. We need to change the business model of An Post and to get more people, rather than just older people, to use the post office network. We have to hold on to the social welfare service and expand others.

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