Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The last time I spoke on this issue during a Private Members' motion I pointed out that too often the State, through its policymakers, can tell us the cost of everything but the value of nothing. The retention and resourcing of the regional and rural post office network is more than just a commercial consideration in terms of Government policy. It is a demonstration of actions being louder than words in terms of supporting regional and rural Ireland.

Other Deputies have outlined the challenges facing the network and the value of the network. Despite the move to online transactions, over 20% of customers wish to use the face-to-face services in An Post. Despite the many promises from Government to support the network by referring to Department business and transaction fee income, this has not happened and the Government has not been to the fore in pursuing this agenda. The recent agreement reached with An Post to provide 18 months of support to the tune of €8.5 million to the network is somewhat welcome, but it is a long way from the €17 million identified in the Grant Thornton report.

It begs the question as to what it is the Government wants in terms of the post office network. Does it want a purely private commercial concern with no public or community service obligation?

It is projected that this €8.5 million will only serve to cushion a network unit loss averaging 10% to 15% of the turnover of each post office unit. Postmasters are rightly up in arms because the Government is lauding them for their efforts but not providing any resourcing.

How is the rural regeneration of Ireland to happen and be sustained if we are not to have any banking or post office networks on our streets? When will the Government correct this ambiguity? The Government has not delivered on promises to support offline services through the post office network. If the Passport Express option returns to the post office network, most of the business will already have migrated online.

The Government convened a subcommittee on motor tax services that was supposed to report at the end of July but will not report until September. The vaunted Bank of Ireland association will deliver at most €500,000 in revenue to the network this year and perhaps €1 million in the following year. This will do nothing to shore up the finances that are required. I can suggest two initiatives that will facilitate both the Government and the post office network. Where pandemic unemployment payments are being discontinued and recipients are returning to jobseeker's payment, the Government should mandate that those payments are processed through the post office network. That could deliver between €3 million and €4 million to the network but would also give Government control of fraud measures by ensuring recipients must be in the country to collect.

Rural post offices should be segmented. Those with a smaller hinterland could be supported by a retainer fee of €5,000 to €10,000 per year. Value for that money can be provided by directing government services through those post offices. That responsibility and onus should be put on individual Departments. It would ensure the problem would land where it ought to, that is, at the door of Government Departments.

The retention of a post office network in towns and villages is a fundamental requirement to building back better. We are doing a lot of talking about that but it appears to be all we are doing. The State is the best positioned and probably the only actor which can provide initiatives and frameworks that both support and enhance the national post office network. A continuing hands-off approach by the Government to this situation is giving two fingers to the regional and rural people of Ireland who pay taxes and contribute to the well-being of this nation. The time for glib platitudes is over. It is past time for the Government to show intent to the retention and regeneration of a national community-based post office network. Further Government indolence will not rescue this situation but future Government-directed funding will.

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