Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the Tánaiste support the calls of the Irish Postmasters’ Union to secure the future of our post office network? More than 500 post office are in locations where there are no banks within 5 km. Examples in my constituency include Oilgate, Taghmon, Rosslare, Clonroche and Ballycullane, to name but a few. They act as custodians of the community and provide a safe place of trust and security for rural people, many of whom are OAPs. They provide a one-to-one, face-to-face service no other SME service could compete with. Through local knowledge, they also save the State millions as they are often first to detect fraudulent claims and scammers. They are asking for a small budgetary sum to secure more than 1,409 permanent SME jobs. That is not to mention shop staff, who expand the workforce to more than 4,000. Will the Minister commit to funding this very important local and vital public service for rural communities that, according to the Grant Thornton report, has a social value of more than €344 million and underpins the economic activity of 885 communities, both rural and urban?

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