Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

recognises: — the views of the members of Dáil Éireann as outlined during the private members’ debate of the 21st October, 2020;

— that a sustainable nationwide post office network is a key component of the economic and social infrastructure in both rural and urban areas;

— that post offices provide crucial public and financial services to communities all around Ireland, especially to those in rural and isolated areas;1385

— that from 1st July, post offices face a major challenge as a significant reduction in payment rates will take effect; and

— the need to put the post office network on a sustainable operational and financial footing in line with the Cabinet decision in 2017; and calls on the Government to: — introduce an interim solution that will be effective and deliverable from July 2021, to guarantee the current post office network and prevent any further closures;

— provide long-term certainty in order to enable postmasters to invest, develop and grow their businesses;

— ensure that all citizens have full access to the important services they provide;

— designate the post office network as the ‘offline gateway’ of choice for citizens availing of State services, due to its unique nationwide network and existing strong

relationship with offline citizens;

— reinvigorate the post office network by extending the services which post offices provide and by retaining existing services such as social welfare payments;

— commence the provision of offline Government services, with the availability of motor tax renewal through the post office network; and

— give recognition to the existing post office network as both a rural economic lifeline service and a locus for future development of financial services outside of the existing banking framework."

The motion has been tabled on foot of the Government's lack of action in supporting the post office network and follows on from our previous motion last October. At that time, the Government asked us to postpone the motion for six months to give it time to address the issue. The post office network is on a cliff edge and without Government support, we will see the closure of post offices across the region.

My colleagues in the Regional Group and I are calling on the Government to introduce an interim solution that will be effective and deliverable from July 2021 to guarantee the post office network and prevent any further closures; provide long-term certainty to enable postmasters to invest, develop and grow their business; ensure that all citizens have full access to the important services the post office provides; designate the post office network as the offline gateway of choice for citizens availing of State services due to its unique nationwide network and existing strong relationship with offline citizens; reinvigorate the post office network by extending the services post offices provide and by retaining existing services such as social welfare payments; commence the provision of offline Government services with the availability of motor tax renewal through the post office network; and give recognition to the existing post office network as both a rural economic lifeline service and a locus for future development of financial services outside of the existing banking framework.

Our motion of 21 October 2020 was agreed but deferred for six months to give the Government time to put things right. We believe every Member recognises that a sustainable nationwide post office network is a key component of the economic and social infrastructure in rural and urban areas. We also believe post offices provide crucial public and financial services to communities all around Ireland, particularly those in rural and isolated areas. The fact that from 1 July 2021, post offices face a major challenge as a significant reduction in payment rates will take effect. There is a need for the post office network to be put on a sustainable operational and financial footing in line with a Cabinet decision in 2017. Across the country, we have seen the devastation caused by post offices closing. A number of post offices have closed in my constituency. The communities involved put forward an economic and social argument for keeping them open but the people doing the figures on the calculators decided otherwise. Post offices have now gone from places like Eyrecourt, Caherlistrane, Ballyglunin and Ardrahan. The community in Eyrecourt has to travel to County Offaly to access a post office, which is not right.

I have also seen the campaigns by communities to retain their post offices. There was a celebrated case in Barnaderg in my constituency. The post office is still there because the people would not let it go. This not the right way to do business. We need to make sure that post offices are given every chance to survive in a time when the postman or the post office was the only social contact with a significant number of people across the country during the Covid lockdown and we paid tribute to them.

It is also important that we refer to what the Grant Thornton report said about post offices, in particular the fact that post offices produce so much social dividend contributing between €344 million and €776 million per annum in social value to communities. That is a powerful message for Government and the people who do the bean counting and who do not realise the social implications of post offices. We have been able to provide supports throughout the past 18 months for every type of business. What we are looking for here is for the post office network to be given the funding required to keep it viable and for it to be given the opportunity to provide offline services as a matter of urgency so that it can become viable.

It is also important that we do not continue to pay lip service to post offices. We cannot hope that some of them will close by stealth. We must make sure the post office network is maintained in a vibrant way and the postmaster, who is the lead within the community in delivering services, has the facilities and resources to make sure he or she can develop his or her business.

The Minister of State represents a rural constituency and will be aware of the devastation caused when a service closes, be it a national school or a post office, in a rural area. It is a depressing signal in these areas. We have the opportunity and capabilities but there is also goodwill across the House to support the Minister of State in supporting this service that we need to keep going. We should remember that if a post office closes, it removes the heart of a community in rural Ireland. We cannot let that happen. I commend the motion to the House.

See this speech in context