Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes when a Minister takes on the responsibility and is afforded an opportunity to make a difference, he or she attempts to do that. However, for the Minister, who represents a rural constituency, to claim that this has been Government policy for decades rings hollow. He could have broken with tradition and moved towards a new policy position in which the State would, in special circumstances, preserve and protect postal services at a time it is not financially viable to deliver them in those villages.

We all accept and recognise there is a significant fall-off in activity in many post offices. Regardless of what restructuring the Minister does, some post offices will not be viable on a profit-and-loss basis. To protect the viability of the community, however, it is our view that those post offices should be retained with the support of a State subvention.

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