Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group and Deputy Denis Naughten in particular for moving this very important motion. I have been a Member of this House for 13 years and every year we speak about the plight of post offices. Many reports have been compiled over decades but this report amounts to the last chance saloon. We seem to be able to find money for everything now because of Covid-19. We should remember that Covid-19 has put a renewed focus on the post office, which is the focal point of our communities, both urban and rural.

I salute the postmasters and postmistresses throughout the country, in both urban and rural areas, for the work they do. One is temporarily closed in Mullinahone in my constituency and I hope it will be reopened very shortly. I do not know if Covid-19 caused it or if it is something else. It happened only yesterday. I wish that family and all other families well and I hope they keep safe.

We must use the opportunity provided by this report. So much damage is being done to rural Ireland with the carbon tax and everything else but this is an opportunity. As I stated, money seems to be available for everything now. What have we got against the post offices that we cannot support them? They are vital because of the jobs and support they provide but even above that they are an integral part of the community.

If somebody is missing in a community, the first person to notice might well be a postmistress or postmaster. Often, people have been saved in this way. Even when people have not been recovered alive, the alarm would have been raised by somebody in the post office. The people in post offices know the customers and the customers know them. I urge people to use post offices or face losing them. We are not using them enough now.

I pay tribute to the postmistress in Newcastle, and I must declare an interest as she is my sister. Catherine McCarra gave up her package last year and kept her interest in the post office. I urge people to use the service and there are many ways in which we could use it more.

The Government has been sending out letters and there is a rush to a cashless society, which will also damage the post office. We are not thinking and the left hand is not watching what the right is doing. Everybody is being encouraged to go online but I encourage people to shop locally this year and support their post offices. Ní neart go cur le chéile. The money must be found to be put into the post offices now.

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