Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not understand this decision. The Minister cannot sit there with a straight face and say this matter has nothing to do with him. Ministers are claiming responsibility for ensuring the centres in their localities stayed open. If Ministers are taking the credit for this decision, they are either doing so falsely or they have some influence. If they have influence, I question why the Minister, Deputy Bruton, has no influence in this matter. The Tánaiste is from Cork and I do not see why he does not have the same degree of influence as the other Ministers who seem to believe they are the sole reason the mail delivery centres in their areas will remain open.

I do not understand the decision from an economic point of view. Cork will double in population in the coming decades. While the mail centre in Cork may be running below capacity, the volume of mail going through the centre is still higher than the volume going through two other centres combined. The Little Island centre is the most modern of An Post's mail centres and can be more easily adapted than the others to meet future needs.

A number of Deputies described this decision as another attack on rural Ireland. I am sure that is the case and any attack on rural Ireland should be called out. However, the impact of this decision is not confined to rural areas. Many of those who will lose their jobs are from working class areas across my constituency, Deputy Barry's constituency and the constituencies of Cork South-Central and Cork East. This is not just a rural issue; it is an issue of workers losing their jobs and the Government sitting on its hands saying it has no part to play in this. That is just not good enough. This amendment will pass tomorrow and the Minister needs to start thinking about what he will do when that happens. If he believes he can come into the Chamber, press the red button to vote against the amendment and then have no further role to play after that, he is wrong. He has to do something.

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