Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his positive response. I cannot speak highly enough of our post office network and the service it provides, in particular when compared with its European counterparts. However, I find it concerning that the Irish Postmasters Union warned this week at the Oireachtas communications committee that there could be significant post office closures if funding is not increased.

Taking this into account, and given the importance of the service, is the Minister of State satisfied with the current level of funding of €10 million annually for the national post office network, in particular in comparison with other EU countries? France and Italy have invested €2.6 billion and €1.3 billion, respectively, over the past four years, while Belgium has outlined investment of over €630 million over four years. Such numbers are greatly above the current funding commitment to the postal network in Ireland.

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