Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The post office is the heart of rural Ireland. This has been said many times and it rings true today as it did since 1818. Over the past six months of Covid, rural post offices have through cards, parcels and letters, and by simply having a chat with staff and neighbours, kept many otherwise isolated country people going.

I commend the Deputies on bringing forward this motion and I hope that they, accept our amendment, which intends to strengthen the call on how to best protect and save our post offices.

Each closure of a post office tears away at the natural country way of life and the right to equal services in rural Ireland. In many villages in Wexford, the local post office was the very first build in the parish after the church. Country life is a different way of life. The successive failures of Governments to support An Post in rural communities has harmed local parishes across this island. Besides being an antidote to loneliness, the rural post office is also an antidote to digital isolation. Many people in rural Ireland do not engage with Zoom or Microsoft Teams. For many citizens, particularly the elderly, an online life is not something they partake in. We must ensure these citizens are given a guarantee that the Government will fund rural post offices and expand services. That is why I particularly welcome this motion and the Sinn Féin amendment to invest in expanding the services offered by the network of post offices. The original motion calls for a motor tax renewal service to be conducted in the post office. That is one of the ways to safeguard our rural post offices, but other services included in our amendment such as applying for SEAI grants through the post office should also be examined.

The introduction of a PSO to guarantee the current post office network and prevent any further closures, as the amendment calls for, would be a welcome solution.

Now is the time for the Government to show its sincerity in backing rural Ireland, in backing communities and in backing an post and rural post offices. I urge every Deputy to support the Sinn Féin amendment and look forward to seeing real action being taken to protect our post offices.

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