Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No Government, whether involving Fianna Fáil or any other party, has chosen to operate the post office network as a State-subsidised scheme. It has always been part of An Post's commercial business. There is no doubt that if one moves down that road, there would be a question of identifying the service and putting it to public tender. To be realistic, we must ensure that a network we sustain services a need. That there has been such a sharp decline in the activity made it inevitable that the size of the network would decline.

An Post has specified minimum distances and so on in different areas to try to ensure there is cover. The Deputy's question concerns communication networks of the future, and it is very much about where we put our scarce euro. Do we ensure there are networks to future-proof rural areas from some of these challenges? We are trying to strike a balance and maintain an effective An Post network while also looking to future communications demands in rural areas. The questions relate to two sides of a coin. Insofar as it is reasonable, we can look at maintaining the existing network while planning for the future.

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