Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for tabling the motion. The post office network is the backbone of rural Ireland. It provides a meeting place in the heart of our communities. The familiarity of the post office gives many in rural Ireland great comfort at times of need. They are usually run by local people who are well known and trusted in their communities. It brings rural Ireland to the rest of the world. It is a place where people can collect their money or send money to the four corners of the world to relatives and loved ones, which is vital to our rural communities who have lost many of their youth to emigration. Furthermore, post offices are crucial to everyday life as they are often the only access to ATM services, the payment of household bills and the household budget package. It also supports social interactions. They are meeting places for many in our communities and they often provide the only face-to-face interactions for older people going about their business. Our banks have turned to self-service and our younger people are leaving but our post offices have remained the beating heart of our communities.

I am concerned by the risk for further closures in rural Ireland. In 2016, the Government made a commitment to our post offices and, in 2018, closed 159 stand-alone post offices, including six in County Clare. I recall attending all the meetings and then hearing An Post's announcement that it would pump €50 million into the post office network in city areas and opening new shops at a time rural Ireland was losing them. This flies in the face of regional balance. It is more important than many realise to keep our post offices in our communities.

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