Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach stated that he would ask the management of An Post to meet a small delegation from that committee. I do not doubt that he has done so. To date, however, and despite many requests by letter and so on, no meeting has taken place. We all agree that post office closures have to happen. Some offices cannot be defended. However, we have seen six closures in a ten-mile radius of Gurteen village. Of the 950 post offices left in the country, the one in question is in the top 500 for business transactions. The Government has spoken about trying to stop rural decline. In 1963, Mr. John Healy from Charlestown wrote a book about rural decline, in which he pointed out that no one had shouted "Stop". I call on the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, to shout "Stop" in this case once and for all and prevent a village from being wiped out because nothing is done.

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