Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that but there has been a lot of talk on that from Government, particularly from the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, and others. In fact, the Minister and Deputy Ring had a dispute when they were senior and junior Ministers as to who had responsibility in this regard, the net result of which is that we are no further on.

The Minister made reference to 700 m but the reality is that the document refers to 15 km. It refers to a commitment that there will be a post office within 15 km for 95% of the rural population. The notion of having to travel up to 15 km to avail of a post office service is hugely problematic in many rural areas. That is beyond the reach of a vast amount of people who live in rural Ireland. Incidentally, there is no big concession here as that is what is required of An Post, as I understand it, under its contract with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. It is not as if something major has been given here. In reality, 15 km is far too far to expect people in rural areas to travel. I appeal to the Minister to work with An Post over the coming months to fill the gap the company cannot fill. The State must provide an appropriate level of subvention under a public service obligation, PSO, to meet the needs of rural communities. Nothing less than that will ensure that those communities have the capacity to thrive and be sustained into the future.

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