Dáil debates

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Post Office Network: Motion [Private Members]

 

10:40 am

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this important motion. Sinn Féin is happy to support it. We have submitted an amendment which we believe further adds to the motion and we hope that people can support it. The work of postmasters and workers throughout our postal service has been vital during this pandemic, ensuring that people can stay in contact, access their weekly payments and pay their bills. I commend An Post's recent initiative of providing free post to our friends and family who are resident in nursing homes. It is a fantastic idea and commendable, and I hope people make good use of it.

Sinn Féin has always been vocal in its support for protecting the post office network. Post offices are crucial services in our towns and villages and are especially important in rural Ireland where they provide essential services and serve as a meeting point in local communities. Despite the invaluable role that our post offices play, the network has regrettably suffered from years of neglect by successive Governments, with hundreds of closures and the loss of vital outlets throughout rural Ireland. These include post offices in my constituency of Meath East which were closed in 2018, including my local post office in Tara, and at Bellewstown and Clonalvy. I remember them as a county councillor at the time and there are other examples. Post office closures have had a severe impact on individual villages and communities. Local shops subsequently closed.

At that time, Sinn Féin tabled a motion on the future of our post office network. Some 159 post offices were earmarked for closure, including seven in Meath. There was little more than rhetoric from the then Government. Nothing was done to secure the future of the network. We asked that the proposals contained in the 2016 Kerr report, which included post offices providing alternative services such as financial services and Government services, be implemented immediately. We also suggested that a new model of community banking be established through the post office network to fill the void left by commercial banks in rural Ireland. Two years later, we are in much the same place, with even more challenges facing our post office network and little interest from Government in dealing with it.

Last month, the Irish Postmasters Union commissioned a report which sets out the significant challenges faced by post offices across the State and highlights the significant value and contribution they make to our economy and society. One of the central recommendations in this report is that a public service obligation be introduced to secure the future of the network and allow post offices to continue to provide their excellent and important services. Some €17 million per annum was suggested for this annual public service obligation. When Sinn Féin tabled its motion on the future of post offices in September 2018, Fianna Fáil tabled an amendment calling for just such a public service obligation to be introduced. With Fianna Fáil now the lead party in government, will it follow through on this commitment, which can secure the post office network, or is this just another broken promise? I note there is no such commitment in the Government's amendment this morning. We have included it in our amendment and, on that basis, we ask Fianna Fáil and its colleagues in government to withdraw its amendment and support the Regional Group's motion and the Sinn Féin amendment.

Another proposal that we have included seeks the expansion of the role of post offices as a one-stop shop for those inquiring about and applying for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland grants or other similar green initiatives. These will be crucial in future. There is a welcome and much-needed commitment from Government to expand these services, which we appreciate, but many may not be able to access these grants through online portals. Our post offices should become a place where people can access information about these grants, talk to a person about them, be encouraged and persuaded if needs be, and get help in applying for them. This can help to increase the uptake of these grants and also provide our post offices with a new avenue of business. We are having a conversation at the Joint Committee on Climate Action about public involvement in addressing climate change and our obligations. I believe that post offices can play a key role in outreach and engagement. It is a win-win for our post offices and environment, and I ask the Minister to consider further expansion of this emerging role for post offices.

We need creativity from the Government. We cannot have business as usual. We cannot come back next year with another debate on the same challenges. Post offices are critical State infrastructure throughout our island and need proper investment, ambition and attention from this Government.

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