Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice to what Deputy O'Rourke has said. It is straightforward. We need to make decisions about vital matters and provide support. I think we all accept, even based on what has been said today, that An Post is a necessity. We have postmasters talking about negotiations on subvention and its possible end. They are worried about whether they will continue to be personally viable. As with many of these situations, we could lose too many of these post offices. With regard to An Post management and the Irish Postmasters Union, everybody is now singing from the same hymn sheet. We have the Kerr report, the Grant Thornton report and a need for the Government to put money where its mouth is. It needs to provide a €17 million public service obligation. Combined with that, we need to ensure that we facilitate An Post by ensuring it maintains itself as a viable option.

We know the difficulties we have. We know the Minister is meeting Ulster Bank about the possibility that it will leave the market. We are aware that retail banks are not really interested in front end dealings. They are trying to move away from those. We have a facility in the community, especially in rural areas where it can be more difficult for people to get in, particularly if they are maintaining a 5 km limit at this point in time. We need to ensure that post offices are given the facility to be the banking service for local people. We need to ensure that whatever resources they require to do that are provided. We welcome any Government services that can be provided. People are worried that some social welfare payments that will be paid directly into banks could reduce the viability of certain post offices.

All this must be examined. We must ensure that we give post offices the capacity to be able to deliver State services and that community involvement will be taken into account from the point of procurement. I agree with the comments on what An Post is doing and its potential as a one-stop-shop as a green hub, which could be facilitated and empowered to a greater degree. These are the things we need to do.

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