Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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7. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the Irish Postmasters' Union's Six Point Plan to sustain the post office network and support local communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16285/15]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The programme for Government of 2011 included a commitment to maintain the post office network. The Department of Social Protection recently sent out letters to 7,000 pensioners and other social welfare recipients encouraging them to switch to direct funds transfer into their bank accounts. What is the Government doing to protect the post office network and the vital services it provides in rural communities?

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Issues relating to the post office network, including opening or closing of post offices, are operational matters for the management and board of An Post and an area in which I do not have a function. I note, however, the recent publication of a six-point plan by the Irish Postmasters Union. The plan aligns with the Government’s consistent message that a strong, modern and commercially viable post office network that is responsive to changing consumer choices is essential for urban and rural communities alike.

Taking account of changes in technology and general retail behaviour, significant challenges face the post office network. To answer the Deputy's question as to what the Government is doing in this regard, I established the post office network business development group earlier this year, of which the Irish Postmasters' Union is a member. The terms of reference for the group are to examine the potential from existing and new Government and commercial business that could be transacted through the post office network; identify the new business opportunities for the post office network, taking account of international experience; engage as necessary with the public sector, commercial bodies and other interested parties in pursuit of the aforementioned objectives; and prepare an interim and final report for the Minister in accordance with an agreed timetable.

The work of the group will be of strategic importance to the future of the post office network and I look forward to it concluding its deliberations later this year. It is in everyone's interest that we have a sustainable post office network, one which meets the needs of the consumer first and foremost. Our collective challenge will be to ensure the future services offered by An Post and the postmasters place the company on a sound financial footing.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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All Members are interested in protecting post offices. Since 2006 in Wexford alone, ten post offices have closed, namely Tomhaggard, Pallas, Crossabeg, Ballymurn, Ballyhoe, Gusserane, Ballycarney, Castledockrell, Duncormick, Ballymitty and Rathnure. That is devastating for a county which has 24% unemployment, double the national suicide rate and is in the top five for illiteracy rates and teenage pregnancies. I know this is not all down to the closure of post offices but it adds to the problem. There is a serious devastation of rural areas in Wexford and other parts of the country.

The Minister can examine the different initiatives for the post office. However, when he claims it is an operational matter for An Post, he is passing responsibility. The Government must be proactive and decide that no more post offices will close. It should even examine re-opening some of them. It may not be financially attractive in many cases but the social benefit has to be considered, not ignored.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I am certainly not ignoring it and I am conscious of the importance of a vibrant post office network. That is why I set up this review group under the chairmanship of Mr. Bobby Kerr to report to me. I will be meeting him next week to see how he is getting on with the work he is doing. He is approaching this in an enthusiastic way and the Irish Postmasters Union is co-operating with the exercise.

There are 51 post offices in County Wexford with four postal agencies providing Department of Social Protection payments. The Deputy gave a list of closures since 2006. Since 2009, five post offices have closed in the county. I am not walking away from the importance he attaches to this agenda. I am confident and hopeful that the business review group will pull together several different ideas. Mr. Kerr has great retail experience and there are others participating in group. We have to ensure the post office network survives in a sustainable way and can be commercially viable, as well as socially significant.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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If the Department of Social Protection is actually writing letters that will undermine the potential of the post office network to continue to be sustainable, then there is a serious lack of joined-up thinking in the Government. The Minister claims he is in favour of keeping post offices while the Department of Social Protection sends out letters that will undermine them.

I accept most of the damage was done by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and that the Minister is not responsible for all closures. However, they have not stopped on his watch which is a concern for people. Will the Minister consider amending the current structure and putting in place a policy and legislation which recognises the post office network is a national asset? This will give the Government a bit more hands-on control over what An Post does, rather than saying all this is an operational matter for the company. If it remains an operational matter for An Post, I believe it is determined to close as many rural post offices as possible because there is no money in it. The Government must recognise the social benefit of post offices and prevent An Post from closing them.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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We do recognise that. That is why we put together this group to see what are the best steps that can be taken to ensure the post office network actually survives. It should survive and there is every reason it will survive.

The Department of Social Protection contract for cash payments to welfare customers is for a minimum period of two years and may be extended up to the end of December 2019. The Department intends to move to e-payments for most social welfare clients in the medium term. Part of this process involves undertaking an e-payment procurement and An Post could pitch for this business. It is not possible to be definitive at this stage but the value of the contract will more than likely be less than the value of the current contract. Processing e-payments is cheaper than cash transactions.

These are difficult dilemmas. Does one introduce new technologies that are more efficient overall? I can see there are competing imperatives in this case. We want to keep the post office network but we need it to be efficient. We want to expand broadband in rural villages and towns. As Deputy Moynihan said, there is frustration that it has not being done quickly enough. We have to find a way for the post office network to co-exist with the new technologies people use in their homes and to deal with the change in the pattern of retail behaviour which the Deputy must see himself in County Wexford.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will allow two supplementary questions from Deputies Moynihan and Colreavy.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I want to put this on the record of the House. I received a letter from the Ceann Comhairle today. I had put down a question to the Minister to provide an update on-----

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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That is not a point of order.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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-----of recent discussions with the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection on letters sent to welfare recipients requesting them to switch collecting their payments from local post offices to having them paid directly into bank accounts. That letter is a source of concern to every single postmaster. I asked the question but I am at a loss as to why it cannot be allowed on the record of the House.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The letter is all doublespeak.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will have to raise that matter another way. Does he have a supplementary?

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Letters were sent out from the Department of Social Protection requesting people to switch their payments from the post office to the banks. Surely that undermines the post office network in a determined way. If there is a whole-of-government approach to maintain the post office network, how did this letter go out from a Department?

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister did not mention when he anticipates the report from the business development review group for the post office network. An interdepartmental group was established to examine this matter too. Will there be a separate report from that group? When does the Minister anticipate this report will be provided?

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I am meeting Mr. Kerr on 11 May to get a progress report from him as to where matters are at. I expect sometime in the summer to have this report. I do not want to give a specific date but there is some urgency about bringing this forward. I would hope that by the summer we would have his report and we can then debate the issue in the House.

Deputy Moynihan is correct. The Department of Social Protection recently issued 2,800 letters to recipients of State pensions as part of a communications exercise with people about payment options. Initially it had been envisioned that 7,000 customers would be contacted. The Department of Social Protection has no plans to issue further letters at this stage. The customers were randomly selected and invited to consider receiving their welfare payments directly into an account in a financial institution. The invitation was entirely voluntary. All payment options continue to be fully available to all customers where relevant. No customer with a social welfare entitlement will remain unpaid by virtue of not being able to receive a payment electronically.