Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for taking this matter this morning. I want to discuss the fact that the parcel offices in Midleton and Youghal, County Cork are to be relocated. The Youghal parcel office is to be relocated to Dungarvan, County Waterford, which is strange. An Post wants to move the Midleton parcel office to Little Island, which is now part of Cork city. If this goes ahead, there will be no depot for collecting parcels in the eastern side of east Cork. The more worrying aspect of this is that employees were informed of it by a WhatsApp message. That is very inappropriate. The union representatives I spoke with had very little consultation. It seemed to come from the top down. Ironically, it is also mooted that the parcel office in Ballincollig is to move to Macroom in west Cork. That is absolute madness. I would like to see the lad on the bicycle going down to collect his parcels. It will take a long time to cycle from Ballincollig to Macroom.

The other side of this is that more than 30 people work in the office in Midleton. Many of these people have relocated over the years. They have family going to school in the area. There was no consideration of the consequences of being relocated. Approximately a year and a half ago 30 additional charging points were installed in Ballinacurra as well at a cost, I suspect. That does not look like good value for money.

People in Midleton and the surrounding areas - if I named them it would take me 20 minutes - who use this depot will now have to go to Cork city. What has really aggrieved people is that the engagement with unions locally was very poor. People rely on these services. During Covid-19, the parcel office in Little Island was handling 40% more parcels than Portlaoise and Athlone offices put together, yet An Post tried to close it at that time as well.

I raise this because people have approached me about it saying it is bad enough to have lost so many post offices in east Cork, but they are now losing all their parcel offices in the eastern side of east Cork. People in Youghal will not be impressed if they are told to go to County Waterford to collect their parcels. The people in Midleton will not be too happy to go to Little Island. I want to try to get a response. It is a draconian move. The people of east Cork will not be impressed with this. As I said, consultation with the local workforce and local unions was practically zero. What is the rationale for closing these offices? We are trying to keep services local to serve local areas, yet An Post sees fit to move services into Cork city and County Waterford. We in east Cork will be left with a massive gap from Midleton, Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Ballycotton, Cloyne, Youghal, Aghada, Whitegate, Lisgoold, Leamlara, Carrigtohill and the surrounding areas. None of these people will be served by a local parcel service in that part of east Cork. Is there a response from An Post? What is the rationale for doing this? People want the decision to be reversed and local services kept local.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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l welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will lay out a few background points before dealing with the specifics raised by the Deputy. The Minister has responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post to ensure that the company is fully compliant with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and the governance functions included in the statutory framework underpinning An Post.

An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially. As such, day-to-day operational matters including decisions related to the operation of the network, which consists of post offices and parcels offices, are matters for the board and management of the company and not ones in which the Minister has a statutory function. He is more than aware of the impact of any issues relating to An Post operations have on communities and individuals in both rural and urban areas, including towns such as Midleton. Over the past number of years, An Post has been transforming its business by delivering new products and new formats in the way it operates. It is understood from An Post that it has reached agreement with its trade union partners on a programme of further transformation for the company. The transformation agreement with the An Post group of unions was reached with the assistance of the company's Labour Court appointed monitoring group following a lengthy engagement on the issue over 12 months.

The company and the unions recognise that in order to achieve continued transformation they need to accelerate their plans. This is critical for the sustainability and long-term future of the business and the customers they serve every day. Improved and modernised business practices include handling more parcels as home shopping and e-commerce become the norm, building a sustainable future and considering the company's impact on the environment and improving working facilities for its staff that will involve some changes in the network over time. The company has implemented new targeted operating models, including across its mails and parcels network. An Post has advised that the process of looking at the first group of delivery offices and their delivery routes begins next month. In some cases, the transformation agreement will involve the consolidation or merger of existing mail offices. Among the possible changes being considered is the relocation of staff from Midleton delivery office to the Cork delivery campus at Little Island, to which the Deputy alluded. However, it is understood from the company that there is as yet nothing definitive on this matter.

Government objectives for An Post include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy, capturing and retaining market share in parcels and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and government services. The programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise, as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network. Of course, any decisions relating to parcel offices are operational matters for An Post, and not a matter in which the Minister has a statutory function.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is one I expected. I understand the part of commercial companies and so on. Transformation will end up like the banks and supermarkets, where people do not talk to staff anymore because everything will be done by machines. The sustainable model is one issue that confuses me. I live in Midleton. If my parcel cannot be delivered, it will be sent to Dungarvan. It will not be a fairly sustainable eco-footprint by the time I get to Dungarvan to collect my parcel and drive all the way back to Midleton. I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I noted that he stated this is not a done deal but according to the people I have been talking to, it is a done deal and the dates are set. The Minister of State mentioned the staff being moved from Midleton to Little Island. I mentioned it in my opening contribution because people are worried about how things will work in terms of getting kids to school and so on. I will bring the reply back, and I will talk to the people again. I am glad that the Government is saying it is not a done deal. From the correspondence I have seen between An Post and the employees, it is a case of like it or leave it. I am disappointed. This is a vital service in Youghal, Midleton and Cobh, even though it was moved from there. During Covid, the delivery office I mentioned in Little Island was doing 40% more than the two offices in Athlone and Portlaoise. Ironically, there was a long-term plan for that to go on sale. If a company is going so well with parcels, why would it sell a profitable business? To make it worse, there was a rumour it was going to be sold to a different parcel company. If that is a semi-State body working for the State, it is not a really good model. I will take on board the Minister of State's reply, go back to my gang, and we will probably rehash it again.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his engagement. The Minister asked me to underline that he cannot intervene to prevent An Post doing what the Oireachtas has given it a statutory responsibility to do. An Post has an independent board with a clear mandate. It would be inappropriate for me to go into any more details than we have this morning. The Deputy's concerns are valid. While nothing has been concluded yet, I will be sure to relay those concerns to the Minister. Where appropriate, the Deputy might also write directly to An Post.