Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to facilitate the implementation of An Post's new vision programme; and the deadlines by which State services will be rolled out to the An Post network. [24176/18]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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What are the Minister's plans to facilitate the implementation of An Post's new vision programme and what are the deadlines by which State services will be rolled out to the An Post network? This issue has been discussed numerous times. The Minister comes from a constituency where villages and communities are very dependent on the An Post service, and this is replicated throughout Ireland. Will the Minister outline his plans and the implementation of same?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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As Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post. I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both urban and rural areas on services provided by post offices and I am concerned to ensure the future needs of those communities continue to be met.

As part of its strategy for modernising the post office network, An Post has established a dedicated business unit within An Post, An Post retail. An Post's recently announced vision for the post office network centres around the availability of new services in a modernised, revitalised network. In fact, the company has announced an investment plan of €50 million in the post office network throughout the country, which is equivalent to €45,000 per post office. Such services will include a better range of Government services, financial services and e-commerce services for shoppers and small businesses. The announcement by An Post is supported by an agreement reached with the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU, executive following three months of intensive negotiations, chaired by Mr. Turlough O'Donnell, which has subsequently been endorsed by 80% of the IPU membership.

The agreement represents a positive first step in reinvigorating our national post office network and making it a viable, sustainable, modern and vibrant network for the future, capable of adapting to the changing environment in which it operates by providing a service that meets the needs of communities across the country, particularly in rural areas and particularly in light of the fact the current contract dates back to 1907.

We are already seeing a number of important new business initiatives being progressed. In February, a pilot e-local service was launched by An Post in three districts, namely, Bantry, Mullingar and Ennis. This service combines the strengths of online commerce with that of An Post's mail network for the benefit of local business. It gives local business an edge over national and international online operators by connecting retailers with their customers, both online and in person, and provides an overnight delivery service. A key feature of the eLocal.ieservice is that An Post gives each retailer an online presence, displaying their goods and services, and enabling online orders.

As part of its consideration of the financial position of An Post, the Government agreed that further opportunities for Government business through the post office network, particularly the payment of motor tax, should be explored.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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At the end of the day the policies to support rural Ireland have to be substantial and of the same substance and essence in terms of the direction we take. We cannot be having on the hoof conversations on a regular basis about postal services and the facilities that will be offered to An Post and, consequently, to the public. We need to ensure there is a sustained focus on delivering services through An Post, which is why the policies have to be of the same substance and essence as the rest of the policies to support rural Ireland. Does the Minister accept the postal service is an integral part of providing a service to rural Ireland? If that proposition is accepted, what we need to do is ensure it is supported in a dynamic way. For example, the Kerr report outlines in great detail what should and could be done. There is also the New Zealand-style community banking. I know this is something that is being looked at, but has it been looked at in detail? Has due diligence been done on it? Could we have clarity on what exactly the Government will do to develop policies to support An Post rather than undermining it by closing postal services?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I am not in the business of undermining An Post and the Dáil record of my years in the House will clearly show this. In fact, I am one of the six of the 266 Members of the Oireachtas who bothered to make a submission to the Kerr report when it was sought at the time. I made it crystal clear there will be no compulsory post office closures in this country. Viable post offices cannot close unless there is an opportunity for someone else to take over the business. Where postmasters or postmistresses want to take the package on offer, and there are other retailers in the community willing to take on the operation, they will be given consideration to do this. My objective as Minister is to ensure that as much work as possible goes through the post office network and the control I have as a Government Minister is over Government services. I want the post office to be the offline avenue for all online Government services, including motor tax, passports, and whatever the case may be. We must remember that one in seven people in this country have never used the Internet. They should not be excluded from availing of the efficiencies of online services.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is why there was huge excitement when the Minister was promoted to his position. It was because of his understanding of the issues and where he comes from and what he is. The criticism is not yet of him, but the reality is that as a Minister with responsibility for An Post, the delivery of Government services through same is within his gift. This is why it is critical at this particular juncture that we accept we can no longer allow the postal service to dwindle. We had 345 post office closures between 2004 and 2010 and 24 net closures between 2011 and 2014. Since March 2014, 16 post offices have closed, which is 1.4% of the overall network. Since 1998 almost 1,000 contracted post offices have closed. There has been a continual reduction of the number of the post offices. We can understand there is not the demand for what was there previously because of the changes in how we live and technological advancements but, at the same time, if we go below a critical mass the postal service will just diminish and will be unable to deliver any form of service. We have to stop and arrest that decline and reverse it with investment in services through An Post.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I will make a number of points. I agree wholeheartedly with Deputy Kelleher; one can count on one hand the number of post offices that have closed since I was appointed Minister; and 18 months ago, the chief executive of An Post came into my office to tell me that within 30 weeks the company would run out of cash and would not have money to pay salaries. We cannot have post offices unless we have a viable company, so this was my first priority. We have now put in place a viable structure. My second priority is to ensure we get Government services in. It is my intention within the next couple of weeks to bring a memorandum, with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to the Government to look at how we can put new Government services through the post office network. We are already piloting this. The Minister, Deputy Ring, has given me €80,000, through the post office network, to look at the digital assist pilot. It is not just about Government services. Take websites such as bonkers.ie and switcher.iethrough which people can get savings of up to €300 on their electricity bills. Offline customers cannot avail of this. It should be available to them through the post office network because they are the most vulnerable customers. They are using the post office network currently and we should be able to use the local digital avenue through the offline desk in the post office to ensure everyone can exploit the digital economy.