Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Places such as The Climbers Inn in Glencar and Browne's shop in Ballinskelligs held on to what we will call new post offices and we are very glad of it in County Kerry. However, we lost other post offices. When a post office is lost, it tears the heart out of a community. It is something that does not need to happen. We can hold on to more of them. I ask this question, as I have consistently during the years. We have great advocates such as Tom O'Callaghan of the Independent Postmasters Group, an independent union through which he represents many post offices. There is also the Irish Postmasters Union. They are all excellent in working together and asking the Government to do one thing - to assist us and not let us go down the road followed in England, Scotland and other places where thousands of post offices have been lost. If they could reopen them, they would, but they are not able to do so. It is like tearing up the rail network and then saying in 20 years' time it would be a good idea to put it back together. We cannot do that because if we lose it, it will be gone. When a post office, like a shop, pub or creamery in a rural community, is closed, there is no going back. I, therefore, ask the Minister of State to help us. That is all we are asking. We are not fighting about it or being argumentative; we are just asking for help for small post offices and post offices in larger towns that are also struggling. Will he, please, help them to survive?

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