Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply, but going back to criticising Fianna Fáil is not a very helpful way to deal with the issue. What I am asking him to do is to study the motion brought before the House in November 2016 and implement it. I have 100% confidence in the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten. His heart is in the right place and I know that he would want to keep every post office open if it was humanly possible to do so. Again, this will require direction and leadership from the Taoiseach, but boasting about how few post offices have closed since Fine Gael came to power is not very helpful. We must ensure more custom is generated for post offices. The Taoiseach spoke about the number of people claiming unemployment benefit, but there are many other services which postmasters are equipped to provide in post offices if only the Government would agree to their doing so. I am pleading with the Taoiseach not to let the opportunity pass. He has a chance to really prove the point that the Government is committed to rural Ireland. He has an opportunity to show that they are not just words, that there is going to be substance behind the talk.

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