Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion and fully support Fianna Fáil's amendment, which brings a degree of realism and ambition to an issue that is causing great hardship to rural communities in Wicklow. Rural post offices should not be held to the same profit and loss margins that other businesses are bound by. The Bobby Kerr report rightly outlined the social capital character of post office services in rural Ireland.

In Wicklow, the latest post offices to be closed by the Fine Gael Government include Donard and Coolboy and there are many more to follow. In the case of Donard, the minimum distance requirements determined by An Post are being breached with many rural customers of Donard post office living much further than the minimum distance of 15 km. On that condition alone, I ask the management of An Post to review the decision and accept the business proposals from the community of Donard. However, I am not confident the Government or senior management of An Post will take their responsibilities seriously.

Nearly two years ago, my local post office in Laragh closed even though the Laragh-Glendalough area receives more than 1.2 million visitors a year. Our locally-led campaign was successful in achieving a review of that decision and two credible, sustainable and enterprising alternative business plans were sent to An Post. The response from An Post in two years has been that the review is still taking place and no decision has been made. To have 24 months of inertia in any business is nonsense but in this case it indicates An Post's total lack of interest in seeking alternatives to closures throughout rural Wicklow and Ireland.

Our public service obligation model would save post offices in rural Wicklow and allow the State to provide these needed services to many rural areas. Rural pensioners, farmers, businesses and families pay the same taxes and obey the same laws and they expect equal treatment by Government services. Today's protest from ordinary people must be listened to. Rural Wicklow deserves equality in service delivery.

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