Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

It is good to hear that the Department is seeing this as a challenge to the organisation because that is key in all of this. I urge the Minister to support the IPU in its calls for €15 million in additional funding for budget 2026. This is just to keep them viable. It is to stop them closing their doors. However, what they really need is a long-term plan. As the Minister outlined with physical mail deliveries, that is a challenge. I refer to the 2018 contract. The are paid by their transactions, but their demographic is getting older. That means that even with inflation, what the postmasters are taking in is going down year on year and, therefore, what they ultimately need is a long-term plan to secure the sector. If the Department is willing to engage with them, that would certainly be a good start.

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