Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to this motion and I thank Deputy McNamara and the Independent Group for tabling it. Sinn Féin supports the motion, which raises some very important issues, particularly as they relate to inclusivity, State procurement and State priorities.

Two weeks ago, in a response to a parliamentary question I tabled, and again today, the Minister has confirmed that the current NDLS contract, which was put in place with the front-office service provider in June 2021, no longer offers a walk-in service. Appointments must be booked to attend an NDLS centre and are made available through the online booking system or by telephone. The fact is that the current system is failing people. I will share with the House the experience of one constituent of mine who went to his local NDLS centre on 8 February. He arrived for an appointment only to realise that he had not received an email - he does not have email - or a text confirmation so had no appointment. The centre was empty, however, so he immediately rang 0818 919 090. He received no response. He dialled 1 - no response. He dialled 9 - no response. The official behind the desk told him he was wasting his time. He went home. He tried to reach the service on that number for 20 minutes on each of the next four days. He received no response. On day five he waited 101 minutes before his call was answered.

To add insult to injury, this service has been outsourced to a private company with a limited footprint, 34 offices, at a time when this Government and that which preceded it have known full well that An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union are crying out for this type of contract to ensure their future viability. If they were before us today, they would say that they want more Government services and footfall, particularly any work that requires ID verification. They already do that work for the Department of Social Protection. In hundreds of post offices they already have ID verification equipment and systems and, at the drop of a hat, they could have such equipment in every single office if that was what was required.

The truth, however, is that the post office network is hanging in the balance, and successive Governments have continued to turn their backs on the network. This is despite the fact that the 2016 Kerr report on the future of the post office network, on page 41, highlighted specifically that the provision of driver licences should be considered as part of an increase in the range of Government services available through the post office network.

In March of last year, the Government set up an offline services group to identify suitable services based on the recommendations of the offline services report and to examine the feasibility of directing more Government business to post offices. We were told that this group, in conducting its work, was considering the increased use of the post office network for the delivery of Government services. On 7 July of last year, during a Dáil debate on the post office network, the Minister of State said: "The Government's objectives for An Post include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy, capturing and retaining market share in parcels and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and Government services." I stress the phrase "and Government services". What has come of all that? What Government services have been or will be transferred to An Post since these groups and objectives were identified? What has come of the Government's explorations and examinations? Following report after report, nothing has come of this from the perspective of An Post. There are comforting words from the Government but, when it comes to it, when there are clear options on the table, An Post loses out. There might be some small defence if the Government said it was delivering a better service at a cheaper rate, but the exact opposite is true in the case of the driver licence service.

To add further insult to further injury, as for the online service, the Government looks set to throw good money after bad in defence of the PSC. That is what I expect the Government will do, as other Deputies have said, if it does not remove the PSC requirement. To be clear, the objective is to drive people online, and it is 100% mandatory to have a PSC to avail of services online. That is belligerence. The Government needs to act on this and remove that element.

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