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

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I know it is of concern locally and I understand that. Deputy Stanley and, in particular, Deputy Fleming, having been chairman of the Oireachtas committee on State-sponsored bodies for many years - I enjoyed my time working under him there - will know that these State bodies have been set up under law in such a way that Ministers are not responsible for the day-to-day decisions relating to them. We have to recognise that this is the situation which we in the Oireachtas have created. We have not created a situation where Ministers would be intervening in the day-to-day decisions the companies in question make.

The Deputies will also be aware of the serious financial backdrop against which An Post has had to develop a strategic plan. It faced serious financial meltdown in recent times. It faces a long-term secular decline in its postal business of 8% per annum. It has had to devise a new strategy to carve out a future for the postal service within the communities it serves. That is what it is doing, and successfully so.

In the case of Mountmellick and Thurles, I understand from An Post that it has found that the existing premises from which it is operating are not consistent with the vision it has to provide a better, modern service that recognises the digital transformation that is occurring, the opportunities that exist in the context of the postal service and the company's desire to expand into financial services and be close to where there is a footfall that would be relevant to its services. An Post has recognised that it needs to up its game to serve places such as Mountmellick and it is in that context that it has made this decision. Clearly, An Post should talk to its customers and explain what it is doing.

The suggestion by both Deputies, however, that I should intervene to prevent a company from doing what we as an Oireachtas have given it a statutory responsibility to do is simply not the right way to do business. An Post has an independent board. If a strong case is to be made, it needs to be made to An Post, which can evaluate it against the criteria.

From my understanding, An Post believes that Mountmellick will be the first of a new type of postal service outside of Dublin and that the quality of service it will deliver there will be cutting edge. It has evaluated the situation carefully in the context of the transformation programme it is undertaking. Given that An Post faces a continuing decline of 8% per annum in its postal services, the key to its survival is being able to transform its business and generate new customers from a society which is changing in what it needs. It must move with what its customers require. My responsibility is purely a high-level governance to ensure that An Post operates to the standards of governance set for them and that it is in a financially sound position. We must have faith in the board we have established under law to make these decisions in the best interests of An Post's customers, its workers and the communities it serves. By all means, I will convey to An Post the concerns that Deputies have outlined but the responsibilities lie with it and we have charged it with those responsibilities very consciously.

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