Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The €10 million per annum is there to provide stabilisation and support and to underpin that key social, economic and community infrastructure in towns and villages across the country. In the absence of that Government decision and the commitment in the programme for Government to provide that support to post offices, we would have a greater difficulty. The State has stepped in to help stabilise that. The Deputy is correct that they provide a vital service in our communities. Through the pandemic we saw the essence of that. Our postmasters and post offices provided incredible community support and were a focal point of the community response.

The funding agreed is €10 million over three years. We are ambitious to help An Post broaden the number of services available so that we can enhance viability. It also has a plan for the overall transformation and commercialisation of the network so it is commercially viable and supports services for citizens and small businesses in towns and villages. We share the objective the Deputy spoke of.

See this speech in context