Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte. An Post is planning on selling off its beautiful art deco building which has been the home of Rathmines post office for almost 90 years and is an iconic building in the heart of Rathmines. In one fell swoop, the actions of An Post will mean that this building will be lost to the Rathmines community and An Post will privatise the postal services in Rathmines. This is a vital service particularly for older people and the many small businesses in Rathmines. An Post is selling off the family jewels and privatising the essential postal services in one go. It needs to stop. The Government needs to intervene to end this recklessness. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications is also a TD for the area so he is well aware of the challenges and difficulties it will pose to people in the community. Rathmines post office is a vital part of the social infrastructure. The community has already lost a number of important services. This is another big blow for the community in Rathmines. Many members of the public have expressed their anger about the decision to privatise the service. A large number of older residents on Rathmines Avenue use the service in this post office and it is not clear where they will have to go to now.

Forty-five of the existing staff will be redeployed to another location. It is not clear whether the services being delivered in Rathmines post office at present will be delivered at the new location.

How can giving such an essential service to a private operator be good for the community? It will mean that the postal service will be attached firmly to the success or otherwise of the private owner. If the private operator decides to close the office or feels it is not for them, the postal services will most likely go from Rathmines. This has happened in many communities across my constituency of Dublin Bay South, and those communities are now without a post office. This happened most recently in Kevin Street, where the private operator no longer wanted the post services in a shop. That had a major impact on so many older people in the Kevin Street, New Street and New Street Gardens areas. Now they have no post office at all. The nearest one is quite a trek for older people to have to make in their older years.

Another huge concern for residents in Rathmines is the selling off of the magnificent building which is the home of the current post office. It is a historical building and it will be sold off and lost to the State forever. This is a really short-sighted decision. This could be transformed into a hub for community groups. There are so many uses it could be put to by the local community. It could be the heartbeat of Rathmines, but this Government just wants to sell and privatise everything and let the community pick up the pieces. This Government is effectively asset-stripping the local community not just in Rathmines but right across the inner city.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. They are both very aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals in both rural and urban areas.

An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially and, as such, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions as regards the size, distribution and future of the network, are matters for the board and the management of the company and not ones in which either the Minister or the Minister of State has any statutory function. The Minister has responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance oversight of An Post, to ensure that the company is compliant with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the governance functions included in the statutory framework that underpins An Post.

In line with its ongoing transformation, An Post has announced that it is converting six post offices from An Post-operated to contractor-operated, one of which is the Rathmines office. That post office will join the mainstream of national post offices in that more than 90% of the country's 900 post offices are operated by contractors. It should be noted that fewer than 40 post offices throughout the State are now run directly by An Post.

In accordance with section 8.22 of the code of practice, all State bodies are required to seek the approval of the relevant Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in advance of any material acquisition or disposal of land, buildings or other material assets proposed by a State body. An Post is aware of the requirement for compliance with the code of practice. An Post has indicated that the change in business model of the six offices will not in any way alter the range or extent of the services offered by An Post in those locations.

In recent years, An Post has been transforming its business by delivering new products and new formats in the way it operates. This includes, among other things, diversifying and growing the financial services products it provides for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises to include loans, credit cards, more foreign exchange products, local banking in association with the major banks, and a full range of State savings products. An Post is providing agency banking services for AIB and Bank of Ireland across its network of post offices.

The Government's objectives for the An Post network include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and government services. The Government agreed that €10 million per annum will be provided by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications over a three-year fixed term, 2023 to 2025, to support the postmasters, with funding to be dispersed across the post office network. The funding is being paid monthly for each 12-month period. Over €12.2 million has been claimed by An Post to the end of March 2024 for the postmaster network. The programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial services and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise, as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network. The overall €30 million funding being provided to support a sustainable nationwide post office network is in line with this commitment.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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We often talk about a 15-minute city, but this model of An Post postal service delivery will not lend itself to a 15-minute city. People will have to travel significantly longer to reach the local post office. One example, as I mentioned earlier, was when Kevin Street post office closed. Residents have quite a distance to go now to reach the nearest post office, and at an older age it always proves challenging.

Rathmines has also lost its Bank of Ireland branch due to closure. Many services and community initiatives have been moved out of Rathmines. There is a desperate need for a community hub, and this post office, this building, could be the heartbeat of Rathmines. Unfortunately, the Government seems more intent on, as I said, asset-stripping and ensuring that Rathmines is left with nothing and communities are left with nothing to work with and no premises to work with or to work on. Rathmines is a diverse community. It also has many older people, and they will be severely impacted by this decision. We do not know where the new privatised postal services will be located. As I said, the new postal service will mean that if the new owner is not keen on it or decides to find some other new way of making money, that is the postal service gone from Rathmines, and it could be gone forever. That would be a huge blow. Over recent years, seven post offices in Dublin Bay South, that is, in Dublin 2, Dublin 4, Dublin 6 and Dublin 8, have closed. Rathmines needs this post office. It should be housed where it is, and this building should be safe and secure to deliver postal services for the Rathmines community.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As I said, I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I have listened with interest to the points raised by the Deputy.

As I indicated earlier, decisions relating to post offices are an operational matter for An Post and not a matter in which the Minister has a statutory function. The Deputy will appreciate that the Minister cannot intervene in matters which we as an Oireachtas have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. An Post has an independent board, which has a clear mandate. I trust the Deputy understands that it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on operational matters relating to proposals for specific post offices. An Post plays an important role in servicing the needs of businesses and domestic customers alike, and An Post advises that this is at the forefront of its mandate. The board and the management work to maintain the company's sustainability and its relevance to customers into the future.

The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, their officials and Cabinet colleagues are working to support the company to that end. The Minister and the Minister of State, with the Department officials, will reflect on the concerns the Deputy has outlined today.