Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion and thank Deputy Barry for bringing it forward. There are some technical issues but the sentiment and outline of the solutions proposed are the correct ones. The announcement of 240 job losses at the Cork mail centre is very disappointing for the workers involved and their families. Some of these people live in my constituency of Cork South-West and some live in that of my colleague, Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe, who is unable to be here this evening but shares our concern. While I wish those working in the other mail centres in Dublin, Athlone and Portlaoise well, it is ironic that the newest and most modern of the four centres was the one that had to lose out. I said last week that the decision of An Post to close its Little Island mail centre is further evidence of the erosion of services outside of Dublin and the east coast. The closure of 12 post offices in the greater Cork area in 2018 was bad enough and now we have this. Two post offices in my own constituency closed, despite a public meeting at which a local Minister of State gave assurances that everything would be done to avoid these closures. I have first-hand experience of the importance of the local post office network, having worked in An Post for many years. In the absence of other amenities such as Garda stations, pubs and general practitioner services, I understand the reliance on the post office for both economic and social well-being, not to mention the efforts of post office staff in the community. The failure of An Post and the Government to offer replacement contracts as opposed to redundancy packages has made the situation worse. It will inevitably lead to the closure of further post offices in County Cork and further decimate rural west Cork.

It was only yesterday that we spoke here about mental health issues. It is undeniable that all matters pertaining to rural Ireland are linked. The closure of rural services will lead to further rural isolation and hence create more pressures on mental health services. That is just one indirect consequence. The blame game cannot continue to play out here. The closing of this mail centre is fundamentally wrong and I ask the Minister to re-examine it. Given that this facility is the newest of the four mail centres in the country, the decision to close it is counterproductive notwithstanding any savings that may be envisaged. I am calling on the Minister to take a stand, undertake meaningful dialogue with An Post and put provisions in place to save this mail centre, the jobs affected and what remains of rural Ireland.

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