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

Let me make it crystal clear that my priority throughout all of this process, as I have said in the House before, is to make viable as many post offices as possible. The Deputy knows from the statistics we have given that one of the post offices that will close makes 11 social welfare payments a week. If we are honest about this, we all know examples of where people are bypassing the local post office and going to another one. We also know that young people are not using post offices. That needs to change and the only way it will change is by investing in the post office network. An Post is making an investment of €50 million in the network across the country. That is the equivalent of €45,000 per post office. It is a voluntary package. No one is being forced to go. People have options. They will have the same access to the investment as every other post office if they decide to remain in it. Thanks to the support of colleagues in the House, we probably have the only universal service obligation post office network in the world which is actually expanding its service from a five-day-a-week service to a six-day-a-week parcel service.

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