Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on the matter. I am aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals, in both rural and urban areas. An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially and, as such, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions relating to the size, distribution, and future of the network, are matters for the board and the management of the company and not ones in which either the Minister or Minister of State have a statutory function.

Publicity post is a service offered by An Post for targeted delivery of items such as promotional materials for businesses. As such, the commercial rationale regarding the publicity post services offered by An Post and targeted delivery zones of that service is a matter for the board and management of the company. Officials in the Department have on behalf of me, the Minister, contacted An Post, which has advised that the current operation of targeted delivery zones is as a result of operational considerations. Accordingly, as this is an operational matter for the management and board of the company, the Deputy will appreciate that the Minister cannot intervene in matters which we, as an Oireachtas, have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. An Post has an independent board with a clear mandate.

As Minister for communications, I have responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance oversight of An Post, to ensure the company is compliant with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the governance functions included in the statutory framework underpinning An Post. It has, over the past number of years, been transforming its business by delivering new products and new formats in the way it operates. This includes, among other things, diversifying and growing the financial services products it provides for individuals and small and medium enterprises to include loans, credit cards, more foreign exchange products, local banking in association with the major banks and a full range of State savings products. An Post is providing agency banking services for AIB and Bank of Ireland across its network of post offices.

Our Government objectives for the post office network include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and Government services. The Government agreed that an amount of €10 million per annum will be provided by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications over a three-year fixed term from 2023 to 2025 to support the postmasters, with funding to be dispersed across the post office network. The funding is being paid monthly for each 12-month period. There has been more than €16.2 million claimed by An Post to date for the postmaster network.

The programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial services and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network. The overall €30 million funding being provided to support a sustainable, nationwide post office network is in line with this commitment.

I regret there is not more detail there in terms of the exact operation. I think sometimes it would be no harm for us to get some of the detail of operational considerations even if we skirt the edge of departmental and ministerial agency independence and responsibility. I regret that the only core of that response is that it is operational considerations. I could give various hypotheses as to why that is the case. I have my own experience of dealing with An Post. I remember at the foundation of the Eircode system, which I was involved in, that the An Post route network was like the third secret of Fatima. I presume that is the underpinning of the publicity areas, similar to what underpins the eircode. I do not have more details in this response prepared by the Department, but I would be interested to hear the Deputy's theories as to what the operational considerations might be.

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