Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The people of Broadford are taking this matter to heart. Last year, the previous year and the year before that their post office was viable, operational and functional. It was only when James O'Brien retired that the issue of consolidation or closure arose. Once this post office closes, it will not reopen again and 190 years of operations will be wiped out. This will hollow out the village and damage it forever.

In terms of costs and sustainability in the long term, it costs in the region of €70 million per annum to keep all 900 posts offices operational. Cumulatively, they generate €53 million per annum in revenue, leaving a funding shortfall of €17 million. In a report commissioned last year by An Post, Grant Thornton identified that €17 million as money which the Government, in time, will have to step in and provide vis-a-visa public service obligation. I ask the Minister to urgently look at this issue. I am told by postmasters that if things do not change, 600 of our 900 post offices may close by the autumn of this year, which would mean two-thirds of our posts offices would be wiped out. Some of these post offices are as old as the Broadford post office, which, as I said, has been in operation for 190 years. They will be wiped out forever.

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