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

In fact, during the greatest economic boom in this country between 2002 and 2010, 629 post offices closed, 26 of which were in Deputy Dooley's county, Clare. At the time, there was not this big public outcry for a public service obligation from Deputy Dooley and his colleagues.

An Post is reconfiguring its entire operation, which includes the expansion of the PostPoint service and making electronic financial services available to every retailer and community throughout the country. On top of that, An Post has introduced a new current account service. Two weeks ago, we launched a new joint venture between An Post and Avantcard in Carrick-on-Shannon. There will be personal loan services, as well as business loan services and, potentially, mortgage services. We have launched the pilot scheme, Digital Assist. The objective is to increase significantly the range of services available in post offices and to encourage people, particularly younger people, to use our post office network.

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