Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am familiar with quite a number of community groups around the country, including in my constituency, where people came together in the aftermath of the proposal to close a significant number of post offices. Of course there were some for whom the business and the level of transactions had gone so low that some communities accepted it was not possible to retain them. In many cases there was strong community representation and support to retain the services. The concern I have is there does not seem to have been an independent appraisal of the documentation or the proposals made. Very clearly some communities have demonstrated that their numbers and the criteria set out by An Post in the first instance were clearly met. The contracts should have been re-advertised and the demand and desire was there. Unfortunately, this so-called independent committee did not find in favour of the communities. There is a question over how a review group can be independent when it was effectively appointed by An Post in the first place. It would have been appropriate for the Department to have put in place an independent mechanism rather than rely on An Post.

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