Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Independent Group on bringing forward the motion. The new contract is in place but the problem is that walk-in services are now not available. I live in Galway East, a rural constituency. Some of the people I represent do not have a smartphone or a credit card and may not have broadband, which is very relevant. They may not have any of the tools they need to do their business online. This is the kernel of the matter. As we fast-track ourselves into the digital age, we are doing something very wrong: we are beginning to leave people behind. It is a significant trauma in the lives of people who may not be computer literate to have to try to figure out a way through the morass of systems they have to use. We have to recalibrate how we are actually preparing society for the digital age. The digital age is taking over but it will not take over everybody if it is going to leave people behind. We need to ensure services are available to people on a walk-in basis and that public services are available to people who wish to pay cash. All of that needs to be recalibrated. There is no point saying this is a workable and more efficient system and whatever else because that is not what people are finding.

I have come across an issue that I am sure other rural Deputies have heard about. To go to a GAA match, one now has to download one's ticket onto a smartphone. There is no cash being taken at the gate and there is no way of scanning the ticket one has; one has to have it on one's phone. There are many followers of Gaelic games. It is time for the GAA to consider this and make sure these people are also facilitated.

It is one thing for me to criticise what has been done, but the question is how we can rectify this and put systems in place that actually deal with people and provide them with a public service. It has been stated previously that there are 940 post offices in the countrywide network. The Government has not yet engaged to fully provide a system for the delivery of offline services. An Post has the mechanism, wherewithal and network to do that but it is not being done for reasons I keep hearing about which relate to procurement and making sure everything is right. It is time to recalibrate and decide to get things right for people rather than for systems, rules and regulations that are brought in but are unworkable. I go back to the basic point that we need to ensure we are putting people first, not systems.

I acknowledge that any time I contacted the RSA in the past two years on any issue relating to driving licences, it was able to help me in a prompt fashion. I want to put that on record.

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