Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An Post recently signalled to the monitoring group its intention to close one of its four mail centres. Workers, rightly, are very worried and fearful that the announcement has been made just weeks before Christmas. In the past An Post often expressed an interest in closing one of the centres, but this time it has shown its hand early. The information I have received in recent days backs this up. Rumours are rife in Cork but also in the other mail centres in Dublin, Portlaoise and Athlone. The rumour is that Cork mail centre is to be targeted for closure or that there is to be a drastic downsizing of operations in the south. I seek confirmation as to whether that is true. I have been told that new equipment has been placed in two or three centres. Will the Minister also confirm if that is true? Nothing new has been placed in Cork mail centre, except the possibility of bad news.

Recently I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minster about the status of plans for Cork mail centre and its continued use in letter processing and other relevant roles, including investment in new equipment and staffing plans, in view of its importance to the region. To my surprise, the reply was not encouraging. I was told that the Ceann Comhairle had to disallow the question because the Minister had no official responsibility to Dáil Éireann in the matter which was an operational one for An Post. My view is that communications are at the heart of this issue and that the possibility of losing 200 jobs just after Christmas in Cork unquestionably matters. The staff are very hard working. Surely their loyalty to An Post matters. In recent months we have seen the closure of many rural post offices, pubs and Garda stations which has left rural communities feeling very isolated. On many occasions I have raised in this House the issue of rural depopulation. Now there is the possibility of urban depopulation as the next phase. Surely we cannot allow that to happen.

Only recently in this Chamber the Minister spoke about the need for An Post to be commercially viable. I accept that, but surely after it has turned the corner and given that it is now profitable, we are trying to fix something that is no longer broken. The fear is that a decision will be made to close this regional mail centre which will leave a very bitter taste in the mouths of loyal employees and their families for a long time. They are taxpayers and also voters in every constituency in County Cork. They have worked in tandem with An Post, with very modest wage increases in the last decade. It must remember that it has benefited greatly from its employees' good will. They now face the possibility of the closure of the only regional mail centre in Cork. Christmas is a short few weeks away. Will the Minister, please, not let this centre close? On behalf of the staff of Cork mail centre at Little Island, I appeal to him to support the retention of the services provided.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To a degree, the Deputy has answered his own question in that he indicated that decisions in this area are not ones for the Minister to make.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I did not say that; it was the Ceann Comhairle who said it.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

He has recognised the reality that An Post is a commercial State body. He also knows that An Post has been through an extremely difficult period in the last couple of years. It suffered a 40% loss in mail volumes which brought it to a really precarious point last year when the outlook was very bleak for the 9,000 employed in it. The company has had to take some difficult decisions, including to increase significantly the cost of postage and restructure with voluntary redundancies. It has also been working to expand, find new business and pursue exciting new opportunities.

Some time ago, when An Post was in discussions in the Labour Court with the unions, it confirmed that, as part of its restructuring, one of its mail centres would close in 2019. However, it has been confirmed in the House previously that no decision has been made on which centre will close. Consideration of this issue is still ongoing. It will be a decision for the board and management of the company. It is a commercial company with a mandate to deliver postal delivery services and a viable post office and mail centre network.

In 2017, when the Labour Court issued a recommendation for a 2% pay increase in An Post from 1 July that year, payment was conditional on necessary cost savings being achieved. One of the requirements was conclusion of discussions on An Post's proposal that the size of its mail processing network be reduced. The recommendation provides that 50% of the savings arising from the closure of a mail processing centre will contribute to the cost of the pay award.

A lot of time and effort have been spent in the last two years in working on restructuring An Post which has found itself in a very serious financial position. This work was critical in order to save it and protect thousands of jobs and the post office network across the country. Postal services have been expanded from five days to six for parcel deliveries and collections in several areas. There is no doubt that continued transformation of the postal business will be difficult and require tough decisions to be made, but the new changes will be designed to make An Post fit for a future in which the organisation can be confident, robust and grow again.

I understand what the Deputy is saying about there being great concern when it has been flagged that one of the mail centres is to be closed. However, An Post has a strong reputation for working closely with the unions and worker representatives and handling such decisions in as sensitive a manner as is possible and sought to do so in its dealings. When the company introduced a voluntary redundancy scheme last year, the terms were generous and fair. Ultimately, we have to see An Post develop a trajectory for its business that will be sustainable in the long term.

That is why it is expanding into financial services with the recent decision in regard to Avantcard and it is developing mortgage packages and facilitating one-stop-shop locations for non-digital transactions. It is trying to develop its services.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. To correct the record, I was only quoting the Ceann Comhairle's words.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Ceann Comhairle's words are well worth listening to.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I have with me the document sent by the Communications Workers' Union, CWU, headquarters and it confirms one centre is going to close, so I agree with the Minister on that. As I said, however, there are rumours in Cork. There are three centres at Athlone, Portlaoise and Dublin, and one will possibly be taken out of Cork - that is the possibility for Ireland south. Cork is a huge county. It beggars belief, if we are to have a sustainable model that covers the four parts of the country, that we would not have a centre in each part of the country.

Another worrying thing I have been told by staff in the other centres, and I have no problem saying this, is that those other centres have been actively lobbying their politicians for a number of months, whereas Cork only received the news last week. My fear is that the unions would have known about this months ago. Why cannot all their members get a fair crack at lobbying and standing up for what they believe is right, fair and just? One of the quotes from the CWU was that it would write to representatives in Cork not to engage with politicians at the present time, which is worrying.

This is 200 jobs in County Cork. It is a very big county and we actually have our own passport, whether the Minister knows it or not. I am disappointed. Maybe it is not the Minister's fault but I am trying to get answers for employees and families just before Christmas. Nobody is giving me an answer as to what is going to happen with regard to 200 jobs in this centre, plus the knock-on jobs. The Minister is saying he does not know what is happening. I would appreciate if we could get a concrete answer and some assurance for the staff before Christmas.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know Cork has a Passport Office but I did not know it had its own passport.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is not new news that one of the mail centres is to close.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I understand that.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Back in September 2017 this was made clear at the Labour Court and it was part of the negotiations at that stage. This is not something that has been sprung.

I am assured that An Post will not take this decision on political grounds. This will be a decision taken in the best interests of An Post. It is trying to rebuild for the future against a backdrop where the volume of standard mail has dropped by 40%, and even this year it dropped by 8%. It has a real problem with the mail service. It is supplementing that by developing its parcel package service, which has grown by 20%, so it has been successful. It has negotiated a reorganisation of that service with its trade unions so it could grow in the way it is growing.

At the end of the day, An Post and its unions have to work together to build a restructuring plan that carves out the sort of future we all want for the company. That is what is happening. All I can assure the Deputy of is that this decision will not be taken by me or other politicians. It will be taken in the interests of the company and its workers by An Post, and it will go to the board in due course. The date for a decision is 2019, not 2018. That is all the assurance I can give the Deputy. I can understand his concern and that of his constituents but we have to allow the company and its workers to deal with this in the traditional way.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I hope it is not detrimental to the workers.