Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar an rún tábhachtach seo. Ba mhaith liom mo chuid buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Brian Stanley as ucht an rún a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Iarraim tacaíocht ó gach aon Teachta don rún atá os ár gcomhair.

The programme for Government contains a number of commitments on the postal network, principally in respect of providing additional services through post offices such as motor tax services, which would assist in safeguarding the future viability of the post office network. The announcement three weeks ago of the closure of 159 local post offices, however, flies in the face of repeated pronouncements that the Government is committed to the post office network. As the Minister well knows, post offices form a vital part of local communities. The fact is that their closure will have a devastating impact on many, mostly rural and in a lot of cases isolated, communities. That is a direct result of Government inaction which has resulted in the decline of the post office network and has not allowed alternative services to be established and expanded, as promised in the programme for Government.

Members of Fianna Fáil, despite the rhetoric, are as complicit as those on the Government benches. Between 2000 and 2011, Fianna Fáil closed 732 post offices; therefore, it is a little galling to listen to Fianna Fáil representatives talking tough about post office closures when the reality is that they will do nothing to prevent it from happening. Sinn Féin, however, has a motion before the Dáil. It is a common-sense motion, practical in its approach and calls on the Government to prevent post offices closures by advertising new contracts; to reinvigorate the network by extending the services post offices provide and retaining existing services such as social welfare payments; to implement proposals contained in the Kerr report from 2016 which included post offices providing financial and Government services; and to commit to a new model of community banking. These are meaningful actions which would go a long way to ensuring the future survival of the post office network.

Mar sin, iarraim ar gach Teachta, Teachtaí Dála de chuid Fhianna Fáil san áireamh, tacú leis an rún atá roimh an Dáil anocht.

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