Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I have been trying to raise the issue of the closure of Priorswood post office on Clonshaugh Avenue, Dublin 17, for the past three weeks. On behalf of the people of Priorswood, I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this issue.

Over the past three years, creating a secure, long-term future for An Post has occupied much of the House's time. There was a lengthy industrial dispute resulting in the company's failure to pay national pay awards and the long ensuing struggle in the system of collection and delivery that lasted until the end of 2005. At the same time, grave concerns about rapidly falling numbers of post offices have been expressed throughout the national network. As the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources heard, the Irish Postmasters Union drew attention to the large reductions in the network from approximately 2,000 outlets a decade ago to fewer than 1,400 18 months ago.

Since he was transferred to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has presided over the closure of a post office once every three weeks. For example, 18 post offices were closed in 2005, including in Brandon in County Kerry, Coolbawn in County Kilkenny, Broadford in County Kildare, Fourmilehouse in County Roscommon, Rathfeigh in County Meath and Killiney in Dublin. ComReg's recently published residential and business postal survey showed that the bulk of Irish businesses continued to rely on An Post and spent an average of €6,000 each in 2005. A total of nine items of mail were delivered on average to each Irish home address per week and five items on average were posted weekly by Irish households. As such, An Post remains a key element of the Irish economy and life. The company recently delivered an attractive leaflet entitled "You Decide, We Deliver" to each household and business in Ireland advertising its reorganised services.

However, for the people of the 18 post office districts that closed in 2005 and my constituents in Priorswood parish, this promise rings hollow. Priorswood is typical of many parishes that have similarly suffered. Four weeks ago, a notice was placed in the post office in Priorswood announcing its immediate closure from 6 March and the removal of all post office services to Clarehall shopping centre in Dublin 13. Senior citizens and recipients of pensions and benefits were stunned by the announcement. Many senior citizens face the weekly trek to Clarehall or northside shopping centres with great dismay, as do mothers of young children and the many customers in the area living as much as a mile from public transport.

Local traders led by our popular local pharmacist, Mr. John Corr, immediately contacted An Post and I to seek a reversal of the decision. Following my discussions with Mr. Matt Lennon and other An Post officials, it became clear that the postmistress of Priorswood had decided on economic and security grounds to relocate to the Tesco-owned Clarehall shopping centre. The closure of Priorswood post office has been a grave inconvenience and terrible setback for the more than 2,000 households of Priorswood parish.

The closest post office, at northside shopping centre, has a large catchment area and long queues are often a feature of its operation. Priorswood post office was clearly a viable operation and the abrupt closure without any consultation with residents, community leaders and public representatives is unacceptable. An Post does not seem to have any rules, regulations or criteria covering post office closures or openings, as I will propose in my concluding remarks. Are there any regulations or criteria and why have I not received them to show my constituents and interested local traders?

The Clarehall shopping centre lies at the southern end of a large new urban development of up to 20,000 housing and ancillary commercial developments called the "north fringe". It is clear that this district needs and will have at least one post office. The residents of Clarehall and adjoining estates are happy to receive a postal service, which is to be welcomed. However, the residents of Priorswood parish feel badly let down by An Post. I was grateful to meet An Post's chief operations officer, Mr. Larry Donald, last Thursday in this building. He gave me a thorough briefing on the Priorswood situation and An Post generally but believed the closure was irreversible. I told him the local Clonshaugh shopping centre traders led by Mr. Corr were quite prepared to open a new post office in Priorswood, which should be seriously considered. I hope Mr. Corr, Mr. Lennon and their colleagues will meet Mr. Donald and his executive team in the coming weeks.

Recently, An Post announced the selection of its financial services partner Fortis from the European mainland, which will give a significant boost to the operation of all remaining post offices. The proposed financial services and products for citizens who never had the opportunity to avail of these in the past is a real possibility and a bright point in the future for the An Post company.

Priorswood parish lies in the heart of the original Northside partnership operation area, having suffered serious social disadvantage, unemployment and associated problems over the past two decades. The people of the parish loved the post office and desperately need a postal service. The new Clare Hall service is now operational and Priorswood is closed but citizens are willing to provide a new service for Priorswood. Action should be taken by Mr. Donald and the An Post management team. Similar consideration should be given to all other areas that wish to retain much-loved post offices.

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am responding in this debate on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey.

The future development of An Post is, in the first instance, a matter for the board and management of An Post. The Government is fully committed to An Post remaining a strong player in the Irish postal market but the market will change over the coming years. The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by An Post and its staff down through the years. It recognises the contribution of An Post to the overall business environment and it also accepts the role played by rural post offices and the staff of An Post, especially in rural areas, in contributing to the social fabric of rural society.

On the future of the postal services, I believe that An Post will continue to play a key national role. It will continue to deliver post and provide Government and financial services through its nationwide network of post office outlets. The market for traditional postal and post office services is changing globally. Meeting customer needs has become more important than ever and international forecasts now predict that these challenges are likely to grow in intensity and complexity over the coming years.

To remain competitive, An Post needs to build on its long established and trusted brand name. It also needs to deploy its resources in a manner which continues to serve existing customers' needs and attracts additional customers for a range of new services. There is also widespread agreement that change is required if the postal services of An Post are to adapt to the modern business environment and to offer a high quality nationwide delivery service to the customer into the future. An Post management and the main trade union, the Communications Workers Union, have recently signed up to a recovery plan, incorporating details of proposed new collection and delivery arrangements, which the Government believes will assist the company in meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive and technologically changing postal market. Other unions had already signed up to changes.

The challenge for An Post concerning the post office network is to develop a strategy that satisfies the needs of existing customers, while attracting new customers into post offices. An Post has already had some success in winning new business and continues to benefit from a considerable amount of Government business, especially in the areas of social welfare payments and savings products.

The network of An Post comprises the single largest number of retail outlets in the country. Ireland has one of the highest number of post offices per head of population in Europe. In recent years, some network restructuring has been undertaken in line with similar trends across Europe. In addition to the post office network, An Post has also established 2,864 Postpoint outlets in retail premises of which 600 can be used for bill payment.

It is the Government's objective to maintain the largest economically sustainable post office network possible. The challenge for all stakeholders in An Post is to generate sufficient profitable business to maintain as large a network as is sustainable. The network has a high footfall and to capitalise on these advantages, it is essential that existing and new services are developed to meet customer requirements. The network also has the capacity and potential to deliver more private business, especially in financial services. Opportunities in this area are being pursued by An Post.

On foot of substantial investment in computerisation, a significant amount of extra business has already been obtained for the network in terms of banking and utility business. At present 95% of An Post's business is conducted through its 991 automated offices.

The Minister has also asked the company to ensure that any strategy for its development should ensure the long-term viability of the post office network. An Post is working on a new financial services initiative. This could see the development and expansion of the range of financial services that it can deliver through its network of post offices in partnership with another financial services partner. Following recent Government approval, the management of the company has begun detailed exclusive negotiations with its preferred partner. If the initiative proves to be successful, it could lead to a significant increase in post office business and contribute to the viability of the network.