Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to bring the Bill before the House. It is a short amendment to the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983. Its purpose is to enable the payment of the agreed funding from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport's Vote to An Post so that An Post may, in turn, be able to disperse this funding to postmasters across the network. The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure of our country. Members will be aware that under the programme for Government, the Government committed to continuing to provide a nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities.

I am very happy to have been able to not only secure continued future funding in line with this commitment but provide funding of an enhanced level of €15 million per annum, or a 50% increase on last year, which was approved by the Government in January. While this may appear to be short legislation, it has quite a significant impact and meaning for post offices. The approval provides a clear mandate for this enhanced funding. My Department is working to ensure that the required structures are in place as soon as possible to commence providing the funding. In line with the programme for Government, the funding will support the stability and sustainability of the nationwide network of post offices, protecting and nurturing a commercially focused post office network. It will also support access for citizens to the key social benefits of the post office network and help citizens access services effectively and equitably. The principles under which the funding model will operate include maintaining access to the network across urban and rural Ireland, ensuring that no community is left behind; aligning individual funding with criteria, including the degree of isolation and the sustainability of each post office; ensuring a minimum revenue threshold for post offices; and recognising offices of cultural or geographic significance, such as those on inhabited islands or in Gaeltacht areas.

At present, there are 870 active post offices. Many of these offices are operated in the vast majority of instances by independent postmasters, who will directly benefit from this increase in funding. In fact, only circa 40 of the 870 offices nationally are directly operated by An Post, with postmasters operating over 90% of the network. This is a nationwide network of significant scale, providing economic and social benefits to citizens, urban and rural, across the country. The Government recognises that there are challenges for both the network and postal services. This includes uncertainty regarding global trade, a decline in traditional mail volumes and the growth of digitalisation. It is not only nationally but internationally that mail and post office businesses are experiencing long-term structural challenges. Additionally, issues relating to the cost of living, in particular the effects of inflation and higher energy costs, have been felt by many SMEs, including the postmasters, and indeed, current global events continue to cause challenges in this regard. In the face of these challenges, however, we are seeing the post office network adapt and innovate, including seeing new generations of users rediscover the network through services such as Vinted.

It is important to remember that this support aims to protect and nurture a sustainable and commercially viable post office network. It also aims to ensure access to important services across the post office network for citizens.

Any support must therefore be utilised to allow time and space to enable new commercial initiatives and services to be developed. An Post fully understands the Government's position and that a sustainable, viable and customer-focused post office network is a key strategic priority for the company.

An Post has a statutory responsibility for the post office network. Accordingly, it must actively explore opportunities to develop new or enhanced product lines for the network. We want to have a sustainable post office network that is available to all of our citizens, both urban and rural, in the medium and long term. The network is a core strength of An Post and the continued development of the network and its services is a vital component of its sustainability. Part of the strength of the post office brand and one of its selling points is that it reaches all parts of the country. However, we must recognise that post offices are commercial entities and as with any business, they need to continue to develop relevant commercial strategies to attract customers, drive footfall and generate growth. Supported by Government, An Post must ensure its commercial viability and the continued fulfilment of its mandate to provide a mail delivery service and ensure a viable post office network. Decisions relating to the network, including those relating to specific post offices, are operational matters for the board and management of the company and not ones in which I have a function. Further, the terms under which postmasters contract with An Post is a matter between the postmasters and An Post, and any negotiations are a matter for both parties directly.

To satisfy state aid requirements, a letter of entrustment for the service of general economic interest will be issued and funding will be paid under a grant agreement with An Post. Previously, funding which ran from 2023 to 2025 for the first time, was also provided to An Post on the basis of services entrusted to An Post, namely, the provision of counter services for the company's own business and Government business, pursuant to the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act.

As I have mentioned, the Bill's sole purpose is to provide a statutory basis for funding to be paid from the Department's Vote to An Post, and onwards, subsequent to that, to each post office. The Bill provides for a small technical amendment. The previous Government funding scheme, which provided €10 million per annum between 2023 and 2025, has its statutory basis at section 29A(1) of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which provides that the Minister may provide €30 million to An Post for the purposes of supporting the post office network. That €30 million cap has been reached and, therefore, an amendment is required to raise the level of funding that can be given.

Section 1 provides for an uplift in the funding currently allowed under section 29A of the 1983 Act, as amended, by increasing the amount prescribed by a total of €75 million, up to €105 million, in line with the agreed funding commitment by Government. The Bill will be commenced upon enactment.

The ongoing global challenges, structural changes in the postal sector and changes in consumer habits provide a dynamic and challenging environment for the post office network and An Post. It is important that we recognise and thank postmasters across the country who are working hard to deliver in this environment, as well as An Post, which is actively seeking out new opportunities to support the network.

The Government is demonstrating its commitment to the network and the value it provides to citizens with the allocation of €15 million per annum, which is a 50% increase on last year, and for the term of this Government. However, I encourage all stakeholders to work together and do everything possible to ensure a long-term, sustainable post office network for all of our citizens in order that the post office remains at the heart of our community in future, as it has been throughout the history of the State.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister's speech available for circulation?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Apologies, it is not at present.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the advancement of this Bill. It aligns with Sinn Féin's policy of supporting the post office network and matches the critical investment of €15 million in funding we pledged in our alternative budget last year. For this reason, Sinn Féin will not be proposing any amendments. It is heartening to see collective agreement that the post office network needs to be supported everywhere, and in particular in rural areas.

I will highlight, however, that the Government funding pledge ends in 2030, after which there is no plan. That creates a concern. Sinn Féin has long supported a new public service mandate for our post offices, backed by strategic investment in an expanded range of services and better conditions for postmasters. Our party's 2023 and 2024 alternative budgets set out detailed proposals to safeguard the future of the network and we have continued that in our most recent alternative budget. We did not put a time limit on our support, as the Government has, and I urge it to take a similar long-term approach.

Post offices are often the last remaining public service in rural towns and villages across the State. Last year, the Irish Postmasters' Union, in its pre-budget submission, said the funding is not just good value for money but is "essential to sustaining vital public access points in communities across Ireland". Post offices play a proven and irreplaceable role in supporting social cohesion. They serve both rural and urban economies, offering critical services and access for older people, vulnerable citizens and marginalised communities. Despite this, the Government is yet to commit to a structured, multi-annual investment that would safeguard these services for the future. Sinn Féin has made that commitment.

As the Minister of State will know, in June last year, the future of the post office network was discussed at the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Culture, Communications and Sport. What we heard form the postmasters was a stark warning to all on how precarious the position of many postmasters, especially in rural post offices, are in. Without this support, postmasters warned us, 40% of post offices would close. With the increase of funding to €15 million, 70% of the postmasters' union members could envisage a viable future. Core products such as mail, Department of Social Protection payments, Billpay and National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, services are all declining and despite the huge reduction in transactions at post offices over the past decade, postmasters are still paid per transaction and are not paid a salary.

In 2022, Grant Thornton did a bottom-up analysis of the post office network, which found that the network needed €20 million in funding. The Government would, I believe, need to get EU approval for that. To ensure a viable post office network for generations to come, the Minister of State should look at the possibility of making that a reality. For today, however, we welcome the advancement of the Bill.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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While we welcome the Bill, many people in my community and the Minister of State's constituency in Donegal will hear his words and say they ring hollow. He talked about how this investment will sustain the post office network across the State and, in particular, support rural and Gaeltacht post offices. At the same time, however, as he knows, in the community of Anagaire locals have come together to fight to try to save their local post office. As the Minister of State speaks in this House about securing the future, that post office is about to close down within days as the postmistress will retire on 31 July with nobody to take her position.

At the core of this, as Deputy Byrne made clear, is that postmasters and postmistresses are being paid per transaction and are not being paid a salary. The challenge is that when somebody looks at the books in a rural, Gaeltacht community to see if it is a viable opportunity, in many cases, unfortunately, the answer they come up with is "No". We have seen this script rolled out time and again. We have seen the post offices in Bun na Leaca, Mín Lárach, Gortahork, Dún Lúiche and An Bun Beg close in recent years. We cannot allow the same thing to happen in Anagaire. Over 200 transactions go through that post office every single day and 60 businesses depend on its services. If the Minister of State is to put substance behind the words he has delivered in the Dáil today, he needs to intervene and make sure there is appropriate support to allow for rural and Gaeltacht post offices to continue and thrive in the future and to adapt to the changes that are happening all around us.

As the Minister of State with responsibility for this area, I ask the Minister of State to look beyond the sheets of paper that were written for him and do not allow the post office in Anagaire in his constituency to close down. There is a solution. It means making sure a small proportion of this additional funding can be provided in core support to make sure rural and Gaeltacht post offices are viable into the future.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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For communities across this State, in particular in our rural and Gaeltacht areas, An Post is a vital public service. It connects people and supports local businesses. As my colleague Deputy Joanna Byrne has said, post offices are often the last remaining public service in towns and villages. However, successive Governments have allowed rural communities to be hollowed out. Every time a post office closes, people are told that technology or the market will fill the gap but that is not the reality on the ground.

In Waterford, eight post offices have closed in the space of less than a decade.

In An Rinn, in a carbon copy of what Deputy Doherty spoke about in Anagaire i dTír Chonaill, a Gaeltacht service, which was the last front-facing public service trí mheán na Gaelainne ar fáil i gceantar Gaeltachta, was allowed to close with zero intervention from the Government. Last year, I met Sean Martin, then president of the Irish Postmasters' Union and postmaster of Tramore post office in County Waterford. He said that €15 million per annum is required to stave off further post office closures and to make it viable for those that still remain to keep their doors open. This legislation will do what Sinn Féin has been asking for, and we are supportive of it, but it applies only until 2030. That is the key difference. We need to offer communities, postmasters and their staff a level of certainty.

Equality of access should not depend on a post code. We need to ensure fair pay and funding for postmasters who have adapted to the enormous challenges and changes of recent years and taken on new responsibilities. They do not need to be lectured or told that An Post is a commercial entity. They have made the changes, found the innovation, made savings and brought in new business, but they need somebody to bat for them. I stress the importance of protecting post offices in our Irish speaking, Gaeltacht communities and our small towns and villages. It is not just about business and services; it is also about social connection and combating the isolation that is gripping too many rural communities across the State.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Sinn Féin welcomes what is being done. We need to see this funding provided to post offices as quickly as possible. For many communities, this is too little, too late because in my part of the world and in much of rural Ireland, large numbers of post offices have closed down. It seems the only model An Post will work with is one where the post office moves into a supermarket in a large town. That is happening all over the country. It means there has to be a business that will provide footfall so people can make money in the post office.

In Carrick-on-Shannon, the largest town in County Leitrim, the post office was to close down because the postmistress could not make enough money to ensure a sustainable future. She had to stop working and nobody else would take over the post office, which then had to move into a local supermarket. It seems that this model is being applied everywhere. It is particularly acute in cases where small post offices in rural areas cannot survive on their own. The payment per transaction model simply does not provide enough to make post offices sustainable and viable businesses. That needs to be recognised. The only way to reverse that is to put a base salary in place that postmistresses and postmasters can survive on, and then give them a payment per transaction. That is exactly what needs to happen.

For many communities, the current position simply does not work. I know of areas where people, mainly pensioners collecting a pension, are travelling ten, 15 or 20 miles to find a post office whereas the post office used to be just down the road from them a few years previously. This is part of the neglect of rural areas, which have been left behind for far too long.

What the Minister is doing here today is welcome but short-lived. What will happen after 2030? Where will we see progress after that? A lot of people are telling me this is too little, too late. Many communities feel left behind, and it is not only because of post offices. In many aspects of rural life people find that investment has not been made to sustain their communities and ensure there is a future for them. Most people who live in rural Ireland want to live there. People who may have had to travel to get education or work want to come back to raise their children and have them go to the school they went to and play for the football club they played for when they were growing up. They have that sense of place but it is being eroded as the services in rural areas are eroded. I am sure the same applies in the Minister of State's community. All of us have to work together to try to provide solutions to this. Unfortunately, the Government does not want to look at solutions. Basically, the Minister of State is delivering something that is too little, too late and does not go far enough. That has always been the problem. While the Bill is welcome, for many communities, it is failure that will continue to dominate in the future. People do not see any future in much of rural Ireland. Unless there is a place for them to live and there are services for them, they will not come back.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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On behalf of the Social Democrats, I welcome this legislation as a measure that will alleviate some of the issues we discussed in committee and heard about from the postmaster community. Postal services are a vital lifeline for so many of us, particularly, as others have pointed out, in rural parts of Ireland. Despite this, many communities have lost their post office. The current model undermines the public interest when it comes to ensuring that everyone has access to postal services. Until we are employing postmasters directly, we will constantly have post offices under threat.

Our post offices in many communities are where people come to connect, interact and receive help from a service they trust and where people go to access public services and banking. It is how they connect outside their own homes. I am reminded of Kenmare, a town I have visited my whole life and my parents visit. My parents have two friends down there who are known locally as Eileen and John PO because they are the postmaster and postmistress. It is a part of their identity and how they are known in the town.

For the older among us, the post office is where people link to their community and each other, particularly when not everyone can make it to the active retirement group or the community centre. Postal services fill a vital gap for those who cannot use, or choose not to use, online services. We act like paying our bills or doing banking online is everywhere but there are still houses that do not have broadband and many people do not have digital skills or are fearful, and increasingly so, of online scams. Sa lá atá inniu ann, cé go bhfuil an oiread rudaí ar líne, caithfidh muid tuiscint go bhfuil tábhacht le seirbhísí fisiciúla. Tá neamhspleáchas agus sábháilteacht ag baint leo do dhaoine, go háirithe dóibh siúd atá níos sine.

Many communities have faced the loss of their post office in recent years. In my constituency of Dublin-Rathdown, we have seen post office closures, including one near my home in Kilmacud. Those that remain continue to come under increasing pressure. It may not seem like a big deal to some people that instead of walking to the post office, they have to drive or get a bus. For many of my constituents, however, that is a huge barrier to accessing these vital services. The post office is a community service, one that is often accessed by the most vulnerable in our communities. For older people in particular, that journey may be the difference between being able to go and collect their pension independently or being reliant on other people who may then have to assist them with their finances.

I mentioned that the current model undermines the public interest because our postal network is under increasing pressure. I welcome that the Bill seeks to address this issue because postal services are a public service and ensuring that they are available to all, cheap and easy to use, and are protected into the future, is in the public interest. The model of insisting that postmasters are self-employed and run post offices like a business franchise is actively contributing to the collapse of our postal network. It means that once these postmasters cannot make it work financially any more in the face of loss of business and limited means of increasing business, they must simply give up. It means that communities can be faced with the sudden loss of this public service simply because we do not recognise that it is a public service.

If we are not employing postmasters directly, we will constantly have post offices that are under threat. We deserve to have a resourced postal network, from the person who puts the letters in your door, all the way to the person who sold you the stamps in the first place. According to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, in March only 41 of 873 post offices were directly operated by An Post. This means that, apart from those 41, every other post office is vulnerable to business conditions, making the provision of the public service impossible for the postmasters who provide them.

I welcome that this Bill seeks to support our post office network. However, without recognising that our system is broken, we will never be able to fully ensure that every community has a post office it can rely on, today, tomorrow and in ten years' time. We will continue to have people who are unable to make the community post office work or are leaving the sector because they need to do so if they are to ensure that they and their families have financial stability and security. The provision of public services should not be left up to the market. When we do that we stop looking at them like public services and we stop looking at those who use them as people who should be guaranteed access.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Postal and Telecommunications Services (Amendment) Bill 2026. I am glad to support its passage. This is a short Bill with a single purpose. Section 1 raises the amount the Minister can make available to An Post for the post office network from €30 million to €105 million. That one change gives legal effect to the Government's decision, announced earlier this year, to provide €15 million each year until 2030. That amounts to €75 million in total and it builds on the €10 million per year provided from 2023 to 2025. That funding reached every contractor post office in the country.

Behind the statutory ceiling stands something far more important, namely, the post office network itself. There are 951 post offices in Ireland, of which postmasters run 906 directly. According to An Post's sustainability report, up to 1 million customers walk through their doors every week. In 2024, the network carried out 82 million transactions. That is phenomenal. Almost 26 million of those were social welfare payments made on behalf of the State.

Let us consider what those figures mean in practice. They mean a pensioner collecting their payment from someone who knows their name. They mean a carer paying bills through the household budget service. They mean a family buying a Leap card or lodging savings at one trusted counter. That is why I say the post office network is not simply a commercial channel. It is social infrastructure. For older people, people with disabilities and people who are not online and never will be, the post office is often the front door to the State. I see this in my constituency of Dún Laoghaire. Our post offices in Dún Laoghaire town, Blackrock, Sallynoggin and Ballybrack, to name but a few, serve some of the oldest populations in the country. When I meet older residents at my clinics, they do not talk about mail volumes or e-substitution. They talk about the counter they trust and the services and individuals they rely on.

The value of this network runs far beyond the money the State invests in it. When a post office anchors a main street or a village, footfall follows, local shops benefit, older residents, in particular, keep a reason to come into town, isolation is reduced and community is sustained. No line in any set of accounts captures that return, but every community in Ireland benefits from and knows that real return.

It is important, though, that we acknowledge the pressures on the system. Having met with the Irish Postmasters' Union and read its report, transaction volumes and contractual earnings for postmasters have continued to decline since 2020, through a period of 15% inflation and a 30% increase in the minimum wage. The previous funding slowed the contraction of the network, but it did not stop the underlying trend. That is exactly why this Bill matters, and the funding model behind it matters even more. I welcome the principles the Government has agreed for that model. Access will be maintained across urban and rural Ireland. Funding will reflect the isolation and sustainability of each post office, and a minimum revenue threshold will apply. Offices on our islands and in our Gaeltacht areas will also be recognised for what they are, and that is essential.

Members should look at what is happening elsewhere. On 30 December last, PostNord delivered its final letter in Denmark, ending four centuries of state letter delivery after letter volumes fell by more than 90%. Other countries are cutting delivery days and closing counters. The UK is also selling off its postal network. In comparison, we are in a totally different space in this House and country, and that has to be recognised. While things have to change in order to maintain the network and keep it viable, we are in a different situation from many of our European counterparts and neighbouring jurisdictions. A service that reaches every community of 500 people or more is worth defending, precisely when others are walking away.

I will finish with one specific ask. Funding sustains the network and new business strengthens it. An Post has shown what it can do with the likes of An Post Money, parcels and financial services. I ask the Minister of State to bring forward, before the end of this year, a plan to channel additional Government services through the post office network, so that the network earns as well as receives. That is how we make this €75 million an investment in growth, not a subsidy for decline.

I know of the Minister of State's personal commitment to the post office network, having met the postmasters' union and others numerous times. It is essential that we keep the focus on sustainability and the retention of our post office network as much as possible. I know the Minister of State wants to see that in every rural town, the Gaeltacht areas and urban areas.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. In the Labour Party, we support this legislation because it recognises something that many of us recognise from our constituencies. Our post offices are not simply businesses; they are part of the social fabric that knits our communities together. They are places we can trust. In many towns and villages, they are one of the few remaining public services, providing far more than somewhere to post a letter or collect a parcel.

The additional funding provided for in the Bill is therefore very welcome. It will help secure the future of our post office network to some degree and provide certainty for postmasters and postmistresses who have served their communities with dedication for decades. I mention the post offices in Dublin Fingal West that continue to do a great service for their communities and our postman, Leo Bissett, who has been a pillar of the community for many years.

While this Bill protects the network with funding, we also need to ask a bigger question - what is the future role of the post office? This is not the first time I have addressed this issue in this Chamber. As I have stated before, we need to future-proof our postal services to breathe new life and new initiatives back into our local services. The Labour Party is pushing for a transformation of the post office network into genuine community hubs that are not relics of the past but pillars of the future.

Government services are becoming increasingly digital. In many respects, that is a good thing. Online services can be quicker, more efficient and more convenient, but we must also recognise that digital access does not always mean accessible services. Every week, as public representatives, we meet people who struggle with systems that many of us take for granted. They may be people who need additional support, people whose first language is not English or people who are without reliable Internet access. Others simply find Government websites confusing or overwhelming. I saw this recently in my constituency. A gentleman with very limited English came into my clinic because he could not complete an additional needs payment application online. He also needed help with the Residential Tenancies Board and Threshold. He was not looking for special treatment. He simply needed somebody to sit down with him, explain the process and help him submit the application. On another occasion, an elderly lady came into us because she could not upload the photograph needed for her new bus pass. Again, this was a somewhat straightforward online task that had become a source of real anxiety and frustration for her. These are not unusual cases. They are repeated every day in every constituency office across the country.

This is why we cannot assume that because a service is available online, it is genuinely accessible to everyone. Instead of asking people to travel long distances or rely entirely on digital systems, we should be asking how we can bring those services closer to the communities they serve. This is where our post offices can play an even greater role. They already have trusted staff, secure premises and a presence in communities across Ireland. They have something that no website or app can ever provide, namely, trust, human interaction and a friendly face. People will often tell their local postmaster or postmistress something they would never type into a computer or a chatbot. That trust has been built over generations, and we should be using it to make public services more accessible, not allowing it to disappear.

I encourage the Minister of State to explore expanding the range of Government services available through post offices. They could become places where people receive assistance with MyGovID verification, uploading documents for social protection applications, renewing transport passes, accessing online Government services or simply getting help to complete applications. This would not mean post office staff making decisions on applications. It would mean providing practical assistance so people can access services that they are entitled to. The principle should be simple - digital, where possible, but not losing access to personal, where necessary. Every Deputy knows that constituency offices all over the country spend time helping people upload documents, verify identities, complete forms and navigate online portals. Much of that support could be delivered closer to home if our post offices were properly equipped and empowered to do so.

There is also another reason this matters. The local post office remains one of the few places where people regularly meet face to face. For many older people, it is an important source of social interaction as well as practical support. The postmaster or postmistress knows the community, notices when someone has not called in and provides reassurance that cannot be replicated online. That community value cannot be measured in financial terms.

This Bill provides welcome financial support but funding alone will not guarantee the long-term future of the network. The future of post offices depends on their continued relevance. If we want to protect them for another generation, we must give them an expanded role at the heart of service delivery. Doing so would improve accessibility, strengthen local communities, reduce pressure on other services and provide the additional footfall that will help sustain post offices into the future.

This is not about resisting technology. It is about ensuring that technology serves people rather than excluding them. The success of public services should not be measured simply by how many transactions are completed online. It should be measured by whether every citizen, regardless of age, disability, language skills or digital skills, can access the services they need with dignity and reliability.

The Labour Party warmly welcomes this Bill and the investment it represents. I also hope it marks the beginning of a wider conversation about the future of the network. Let us see our post offices not only as places to post letters or collect parcels but as trusted community hubs where people can access Government services, receive practical assistance and remain connected to the supports they rely on. If we take that approach, we will not simply preserve our post offices; we will strengthen them, ensuring they remain at the very heart of communities across Ireland for generations to come. The best way to protect the post office is not simply to subsidise it but to give people more reasons to walk through its doors.

I will finish with an example of how the Government is missing the mark regarding post offices. I want to credit Deputy Ivana Bacik’s work on this as well as the work of Councillor Dermot Lacey and Councillor Fiona Connelly. Rathmines Post Office is a historic public building with significant potential, yet the Government cannot even give a commitment that it should remain in public ownership or be protected from being sold off for purely commercial use. One of the most concerning aspects of this issue is the apparent lack of interest from Government Ministers. They seem to have no clear position on the potential sale of a valuable State asset at a time when the State is spending enormous amounts leasing buildings and office space. If Ministers have no vision for safeguarding strategic State assets like this, then they are failing both the local community and the taxpayer. At the very least, they should be setting out a clear plan to ensure that buildings of such historic and public value continue to serve the public interest rather than being disposed of without any meaningful scrutiny.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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For many years, I have listened carefully to the submissions made by Sean Martin. I have read each submission with great care because I believe in the post office network. I am a supporter of that network and of the postmasters and postmistresses and the work they do throughout the country. However, in those years, I have also witnessed the closure of many post offices throughout the country, particularly those in villages and towns that are suffering from a decline in population or a decline in local services. We cannot turn a blind eye to this. When people lose a post office, they lose a critical part of their social infrastructure, a service and a building where they can go and meet neighbours and friends as they transact what are small transactions, generally, in the post office. They can also share the news of the day, or share their views on what could or could not be done with the post office network itself. People have opinions on it, and they want their post office to stay in place.

This investment will ensure a continuation for a further number of years. However, the time has come when the Government must sit down with the union and discuss just how it wants to see the post offices develop, particularly in rural Ireland. If we are making the investment, if we are giving the support, while we might look at it as a subsidy, we should also be looking at it as an investment in rural Ireland. I know urban centres, like Deputy Devlin's area, will have the same type of benefits. If we look at it in that way, we might agree on a structure and a worthwhile strategy or plan, so the investment will give a yield not just for the post office network but also give a yield for the Government of the day.

I think of places like, for example, the post office on the High Street in Kilkenny city, which is a building that attracts quite a lot of business in its role in the post office network. However, it is also a building that should be invested in by a combination of the Government and the union contributing to a strategy that would see buildings like this enhanced and making a greater contribution to Kilkenny city, in this case, and then to look beyond that and see what investment can take place in all of the other villages and towns that either had a post office or still have one but could do with investment. If we do not do that, then what we are doing today by giving more money to the post office network will just see that network slowly grind to a halt. It will be a slow death. This affects not just the customers. It affects the staff, the families and all those involved in post offices. It means there is no future that will be seen by them as keeping them employed. We have to give that future to them. We have to understand the trust that they have created over generations, in some cases, with local communities and local families. It is a trust that allows the public to go and make their payments through the post office, deal with their part-payments to cover bills for services every week, and feel comfortable in doing it.

I would make the point that not everyone is IT-literate. People like to have a safe, private place that they can trust, where they do not need to be IT-literate, and where they can come in and do their business in an open fashion. We need to recognise that. We also need to recognise that not everybody can use technology to speak to someone. Only this morning, I was talking to people in a company providing services. They did not have a clue where I was, and I did not have a clue where they were. There was no personal connection, no face-to-face meeting - there was nothing. I immediately thought of those people who are marginalised for one reason or another, who cannot engage with technology. The post office allows all of those people, in their own way, to interact with a person, get their problem solved and do it, as I said, with trust and in a place they are familiar with.

I welcome the money that is going to be provided on top of what is already there. It is a substantial amount of money. However, if we put our minds to it, as a Government, then a lot more can be achieved, not just for the network but for society generally and for communities that need the type of interaction that a post office offers. We cannot ignore the drop in the number of post offices. We need to look at that, and we need to look at how society is developing. Footfall is all-important. If you lose your post office, you perhaps might lose your pub or your local shop. That is a detrimental step. I encourage the Minister to have a look at the overall workings of the post office and to fund it appropriately.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome this legislation, which gives effect to the €15 million that was announced earlier in January. I commend all the post offices and thank the post office owners who communicated with me at the time, including those I met in trying to get this vital extra funding. We all know that post offices are far more than just places to send letters and collect parcels. They provide essential public services at the very heart of our communities, where people go to pay their bills and access pensions, social welfare payments, banking services and a whole lot more. For many people, particularly the elderly, those living alone with disabilities and those without reliable transport, the local post office is a lifeline for them.

As the Minister of State said in his opening statement, the strength of the post office brand is that it reaches every part of the country. Unfortunately, it no longer does because we continue to see the network diminish, with more than 250 post office closures over the past decade. Last month's closure of Geesala post office in Erris is the most recent example. The people of Geesala must now travel 10 km to Bangor Erris or almost 20 km to Béal an Mhuirthead to access services that were once available in the heart of their community. Those distances represent a real barrier to essential services. We clearly need a renewed commitment from the Government to invest in our post office network. Post offices should be recognised as essential public infrastructure and funded accordingly. By expanding the range of Government and financial services available through post offices, ensuring fair remuneration for postmasters and postmistresses and investing in the long-term sustainability of the network, we can secure the future.

It is reported that the CEO of An Post will earn a base salary of €285,000 in his first year. That can be compared with what is paid to postmasters and postmistresses around the country. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for the service they have given to their communities and this country over the years.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I welcome the Bill and the additional investment in An Post. There is a fundamental problem with An Post and it is why week after week we hear Deputies rightly complain in here about post offices closing, sorting offices moving and the terrible treatment of pensioners in An Post. The fundamental issue at the heart of it all is the so-called commercial mandate for An Post. An Post has to legally behave like a company that is solely focused on profit despite the reality that it is a public and community service and should be seen as such, and that should be its priority. Because it is not, many decisions are taken to the detriment of workers, communities and pensioners.

I want to talk about two aspects of An Post. One is the relocation of sorting offices and the other is the treatment of An Post pensioners. The Minister of State took a Topical Issue from the TDs in our constituency. I had to miss it for some good reason. The Topical Issue was about the move of the sorting office in Edmondstown, which serves Dublin 16, to a superhub in Lucan, coincidentally beside the Amazon warehouse, supposedly to prioritise parcels. Added to that, also in our constituency, is the move of the Tallaght sorting office from the centre of Tallaght to the superhub in Lucan.

The communities are up in arms about it, and rightly so. This will be a disaster. It will be a disaster for workers. Workers have told us they live in the area and do not drive a car. They cycle to the sorting office and then do their route, and will not be able to travel from Dublin 16 to Lucan on a daily basis. The new hub is 17 km from the Edmondstown sorting offices and 11 km from the one in Tallaght. For workers who do not drive, that is out. Even if they do drive, their quality of life and life at work will get worse. A large proportion of the working day will be spent sitting on the M50 on the way to and from Lucan, rather than primarily delivering post, talking to people, etc. People will spend hours of their working day in traffic as opposed to delivering post. The impact on residents will be a dramatically worsened service.

More staff will have to be involved in delivery, and in theory that is something that can be done. The issue that we cannot take account of, however, is that the traffic on the M50 is different on any given day. On some days there will be a big pile-up on the M50 and, therefore, routes will not be completed. Post and packages will go back to Lucan at the end of the day. The service for residents in Tallaght and Dublin 16 will be worse.

The biggest issue, however, is one the Minister of State can imagine himself. People miss deliveries; we all do. We know our local sorting office because it is the place we go to get a package when it has been missed and we get a delivery slip. People living in Tallaght or Dublin 16 who miss a package will have to travel to Lucan. It is crazy. People who do not have a car will have to take a bus from Rathfarnham or Tallaght into town and out to Lucan, and back again, a journey of two to three hours. Even those in a better situation who have a car will find it hard. It is difficult enough for people to go to sorting offices to collect parcels, never mind driving all the way to Lucan. The inconvenience will be immense.

An Post has said behind the scenes that it will make arrangements with local post offices to make sure packages can be collected. We have spoken to local post offices that have told us they do not have the space or opening hours to do that and that there has been no contact with them to make this happen. We are being lulled to sleep by An Post saying not to worry and that this will be fine, but ultimately it will not be fine.

A mother living in Dublin South-West spoke about the impact of this on her. She is the parent of a child with additional needs. She does not drive and said having a local An Post delivery office is not simply a convenience but essential. She said she relies on being able to access postal services close to home and that travelling further to collect missed deliveries or resolve delivery issues would be extremely difficult. She said caring for a child with additional needs already involves attending appointments, managing therapies and balancing many daily responsibilities. Without access to a car, she said, any additional journey by public transport or on foot creates extra stress and practical challenges, in particular when travelling with her child.

This is a huge issue and it is why in Dublin 16 we had a well-attended public meeting and, a few weeks ago, a very well-attended protest. Over 4,000 people have signed a petition against the move of the Dublin 16 post office, and we are just getting started with the campaign in Tallaght. We will hold a public meeting next Monday night in Tallaght, which I believe will also be well attended.

The result is that the campaign is having an impact. An Post has now said that, due to time constraints, it is staggering the consolidation of Fonthill in Tallaght. It also said that because it would take a number of weeks for the offices to settle in the new surroundings so close to the very busy Christmas peak period, it has taken the decision to defer the move of the Edmondstown and Tallaght sorting offices to quarter 1 of 2027. We have forced back the decision, but this is not the answer. Going back to quarter 1 of 2027 provides a six-month reprieve. The move was to happen in quarter 3 of 2026. That is not what we are looking for. The plan has to go off the table. There are other issues with sorting offices across the country, but this is a major issue. There will be a large meeting in Tallaght on Monday night. We will then propose to bring the campaigns together and protest outside the Dáil in September to show that this is not acceptable.

Fundamentally, this is a political issue. The Minister of State needs to tell An Post it is not a runner and does not make sense. To be clear, the buildings where the sorting offices are currently located are fully operational. Ironically, after moving the Edmondstown office to Lucan the plan is to move a Dublin 14 sorting office, currently located in Churchtown, to the old building. From the point of view of workers and residents, this proposal, which I believe is about prioritising Amazon over people, needs to be dropped.

Regarding An Post pensioners, we have a scandalous situation where workers who transferred over to An Post and gave huge service to the company and to the communities they served were given guarantees about the value of their pension not being diminished and so on. All those guarantees, which supposedly exist in law, have been broken and now they are going into pension poverty. There is an incredible situation whereby a cap on these pensions means they can rise by only 2% a year. The cost-of-living crisis we have seen over recent years has led to people's real income being massively eroded, and workers are expected to just accept it.

If we continue on the trajectory we are on, the State pension, inadequate as it is, will actually surpass the An Post pension for many workers. That is no way to treat people who were working directly for the State before being transferred to An Post. They have been left in a situation of deepening and worsening pension poverty. We all know what the rates of inflation have been over the past few years. Two of the workers, Mr. Paul Moreland and Mr. John Hearn, appeared before the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport in May. They put the case extremely well in terms of how poorly An Post pensioners are being treated. That situation must be rectified.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Is mór agam an deis labhairt ar an mBille seo a bhaineann le seirbhís atá thar a bheith tábhachtach do dhaoine i mo Dháilcheantar agus timpeall na tíre, is é sin an tseirbhís poist. Cuirim fáilte ar leith roimh an infheistíocht sa bhreis atá anois á cur ar fáil ag an Rialtas tríd an mBille seo le tacú le gréasán na n-oifigí poist timpeall na tíre agus a chinntiú go gcuireann siad seirbhís ar fáil do na daoine atá ag brath orthu. Ag an am céanna, áfach, táthar ag moladh do An Post dul i ngleic leis an nuálaíocht, cur chuige nua a spreagadh maidir leis na seirbhísí a chuireann sé ar fáil do phobal na tíre agus é ag claochlú i gcónaí.

I thank the Minister of State for bringing the Bill to the House. I thank him also for his engagement with my colleagues from Dublin and me and with postmasters and representatives of postal service providers across the country. That engagement has been important. It underlines the importance we in our party place on the post office network and the central role it plays in Irish life, both in cities and in rural areas. In all the post offices in my constituency, including Clondalkin post office and all the offices in Lucan, there is a buzz around the place on days like pension day. That encapsulates the importance of the post office network as a social outlet for many communities, and especially for older people, for whom loneliness is a real issue. Where postmasters, postmistresses and counter staff know individual customers by name, the service they provide is a vital lifeline for communities, not just in rural areas but also in cities and in large suburbs such as in my constituency of Dublin Mid-West.

That comes even more into focus when we think of the challenges facing our communities in terms of digital exclusion. There are people who may not have well-developed digital skills or be able to access online platforms to do their everyday business and life administration, as many of us of another generation might be able to do. In providing a breadth of services, post offices offer a real outlet and lifeline to those people, not only to do their business without compromising their pride by having to ask for help but also from the knowledge that the service is available to them.

When there was widespread disruption to postal deliveries in my constituency in recent months, it caused real disruption for older people, not just in terms of birthday cards and gifts but also missed hospital appointments. While a hospital might call people to appointments by email, many older people wait for a letter to provide them with the information they need. This calls into question the often-held assumption that loneliness is not prevalent and connection is not at a premium in built-up areas. That is not always the case. Older people and people from all backgrounds who have come to my clinic or spoken to me at the doors have recounted how important an active and vibrant post office is to them.

Denmark recently announced the phasing-out of traditional postal services. The reaction here in Ireland to that announcement underlined the importance of investing in our postal network. People do not just think of our postal service in terms of the delivery of letters. They think of the post office as a stable and familiar linchpin or anchor in their communities. It is a social pillar in the community. For many people who experience loneliness in their lives, going to the post office is one of the few occasions in the week when they will meet someone and enjoy a meaningful conversation and human connection. The importance of the stability and familiarity of dealing with the same teller, postmaster or postmistress cannot be overstated.

The additional investment enabled by this Bill sends an important signal to the post office network that the State believes there is a massively socially desirable aspect to the provision of postal services. I bring to the attention of the House the ability of the State to combat the ongoing pandemic of loneliness in our communities in cities, towns and rural areas throughout the country. The post office is a key front in battling that pandemic and in providing cohorts of people who feel excluded from society and who may not have a human connection with stability at a time when we hear of services being made digital first or digital only. The post office can be an outlet to provide that connection for people.

Public services should strengthen community life. This Bill is a key enabler of strengthening community life by increasing investment in our post office network. We need to encourage An Post, as a result of it, to continue to innovate and bring forward new approaches to how it delivers its services. Some instances of disruption to postal delivery continue in my constituency. I will raise that directly with An Post. The impact of such disruption shows the importance people place on a functioning postal service, not just for the delivery of parcels and letters but also for connection, engagement and the human interface that so many in this country value. As a country, and certainly as a member of Fianna Fáil, we pride ourselves on being people who value community. The post office is a manifestation of that. It is one of the reasons I support the Bill. I compliment the Minister of State on bringing it forward.

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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We welcome additional funding for the post office service. Sinn Féin has committed to major investment in the post office network as part of our alternative budget. Communities across counties Wexford and Wicklow have had to endure many post office closures over recent years, with 11 closing in Wexford in 2018 and five local communities in Wicklow losing their services or seeing them consolidated. Each of those closures represents a major loss of an essential community service. It is a huge blow to rural Ireland.

The Government is now providing funding over five years to support the network. That investment is very welcome. However, nowhere in the Bill is there a guarantee that post offices will remain open. I am thinking of towns and villages near me, including Aughrim, Arklow, Avoca, Rathdrum, Carnew, Tinahely and Shillelagh. Post offices provide essential services in those communities, as they do in other places where they exist, such as Ballyfad, Ballycanew, Bunclody, Kilanerin, Kilmuckridge, Courtown, Camolin, Ferns and Gorey. Communities deserve to know whether this funding will simply slow the decline in the network or protect it.

Post offices are doing more than ever before. In 2022, they processed 6.5 million everyday banking transactions, with a value of €2.7 billion, for AIB and Bank of Ireland customers. Those transactions generate approximately €3.2 million in commission payments to postmasters. At the same time, bank branches continue to disappear from towns and villages, including many in my local area, thereby making post offices even more important, yet many postmasters tell us their businesses remain financially vulnerable. Despite that, the Government is yet to commit to a structured multi-annual investment that would safeguard the services into the future. We really need assurances that there is a clear plan for sustainable income for postmasters and expanded services. Most important, we need a commitment that the post office services, which are absolutely essential to every local community, will continue.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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We in Independent Ireland will always welcome any extra funding to post offices. It is hugely important. Since I came into the Dail, I have spoken on numerous occasions about the safeguarding of local post offices. As welcome as the funding is, however, the serious question is whether it will stop the closure of post offices and make them a viable option.

The only way to make something viable is to make sure extra services are provided. When I came into this House first, we talked about maybe being able to tax your car in the post office. There were so many other things. The post office could become something like the credit union in a town, by providing banking services and all that sort of business. They are doing that in other countries. Maybe passports could be done through the post office. Sadly, they have been starved in terms of moving from what they were doing to moving to new services they could deliver. They provide an incredible service in most towns and villages. Sadly, in the nearest parish to where I live, we lost the Goleen post office a couple of years ago and the Durris post office closed last year. The Crosshaven post office closed last May. It is on the edge of my constituency, at the eastern end. It is very unfair and those communities have been hit very hard by the loss of the post office. I spoke to a former postmaster in a community that lost its post office. He said An Post failed to fund or put any kind of decent money into the business. The computers being used were 15 or 20 years old. If you squeeze the life out of something, it will die. If you do not put a drop of water on a plant, it will not live. If we do not feed post offices in the way they need to be fed, then the rural post office is going to go.

Yes, it is very welcome the Government is giving this funding. It is appreciated. I know that when I talk to my local postmistresses, Wendy Briscoe, in Schull, or Bridie Reichert, in Ballydehob, they will appreciate it. However, they tell me they are fighting for survival. It is not easy. When the Goleen post office was closing, I heard politicians saying to people that they would love living in Goleen, down by the coast in the most beautiful part of the world. They were codding people because people have to work six days a week. They cannot really afford to take somebody on because if they do, their profits are cut in half, or close to it. That hits a person. I knew quite a lot of people who applied for the Goleen post office but who pulled out when they realised what was involved in the running of it and that the money they were going to make was little or nothing.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Like my colleague, I have always been supportive of the local post office. We recognise the importance of the local post office. I have told the story in this House of how I always believed that a visit to the post office took about two and a half hours because I remember my grandmother going to collect the pension and coming back two and a half hours later. I remember one of my first visits to the post office and being astonished that I was in and out within three or four minutes unlike my grandmother who was collecting neighbourhood information and gossip while collecting the pension. That is the importance of the post office. All of us in the House recognise how important that community link is and how people meet their neighbours and friends and find out how people are doing. There is also the community notice board. The workers in the post office, whether the postmistress, postmaster or those employed by them, help to fill out forms, let people know their entitlements and download and print stuff for them. I think that type of community service is unique to this country.

We have to recognise that we have to move forward and keep the post office moving forward and keep it relevant. We have hindered that quite a lot. There are additional services that could be provided by the post office, keeping it up to date, part of and embedded in the community. I have said before in this House that we need to look at our Garda stations and how we could amalgamate them with the post office. I can guarantee that very few people would rob a Garda station. We have to look at that. We see it with the postal systems in France, northern Spain and Switzerland, where post offices are delivering prescription medicine, working with their equivalents of the HSE. They are able to get prescriptions out to people who are not able to get them and who do not have carers looking after them. There is a wide range of services that could be provided with that.

As I said, we welcome this but I notice that we are going from recognising €30 million to €105 million in this case. The last thing I want is to be back here in two years' time saying that we do not have enough money in our post offices and that not enough was invested. It is all very well to throw money at a situation. Government is very good at throwing money at situations but we have to get a full plan for the post office to bring it up to date and keep it relevant.

We need to recognise that because of European law, people will now be taxed, or whatever you want call it, €3 on every item from these large Chinese companies like Temu and Shein. There will be serious changes when it comes to delivering small items, whether they are from Temu, abudhabi.com, Shein or whoever these providers are. There will be some challenges there in the next 12 months.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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The post office service is really important and I welcome support for post offices across the country. It is particularly important for senior citizens in rural areas. In many rural areas the banks are closing and withdrawing services and face-to-face services. That is why it is particularly worrying that so many post offices are closing.

In the past ten years, 19 post offices have closed in County Mayo. Let us look at the region of Kilkelly, where nine banks have closed. This is in an area between Ballyhaunis, Charlestown and Kiltimagh. As a result, post offices across the country - in this case in Kilkelly - have stepped up and have welcomed the customers who have been abandoned by these banks. The post office is really important. It provides in-person oversight to payments that no online system can replicate. I know of postmasters who regularly and routinely alert An Garda when there are instances of fraud. They alert neighbours when a local does not come in for their pension. That is the value of the local post office that the Government has to recognise.

I also want to speak about the economic model behind post offices. We have to question why the subsidy is necessary. If we look at the postmaster economic model, they receive 55 cent for processing a bank transaction and 65 cent for a social welfare payment. The cost of a stamp is fixed centrally. While the revenue is static, costs for wages, insurance and regulatory compliance are rising. I spoke to a postmaster recently who outlined that the cost of his alarm system had doubled in the space of a year. Yet, his revenue will not double. In fact, the revenue he receives is static and fixed centrally.

At the same time as this is happening, there has been a reduction of footfall, as many social welfare payments have now migrated to bank accounts and so on. The Minister of State needs to look at this issue. Postmasters can play an important role in counteracting fraud. It is a very important one that is not being recognised by the Government.

I believe in supporting the postmasters of Ireland but I want to raise a number of important points. The previous scheme was allowed to expire without any successor and this was wrong. It has meant that they were left with a gaping hole. They were struggling and did not know how they would survive.

Regarding the additional €15 million every year, it is fundamentally important that is ring-fenced for the front line and that it does not get caught up in a central office in An Post. It is important the Minister of State guarantees this funding will go to the front line and will prevent more closures of the network across the country.

We have to plan and reform. The postmasters of Ireland want to provide additional services, such as car tax renewal, renewal of licences and of passports and public services card replacements. All of these things can be delivered in the local community but it is important they are allowed and that the services are expanded.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The programme for Government recognises the vital role played by post offices in communities across Ireland. It commits to supporting them on a long-term basis. This Bill is clearly part of that commitment, providing €15 million per year over the next five years to support the network.

It is welcome investment. Post offices are an essential part of community life, particularly for older people, vulnerable people and those living in areas where access to other services may be limited, as Deputies mentioned.

While the services provided by post offices have evolved over time, their importance to the communities they serve has not diminished. However, if we are serious about supporting the future of the postal network, we must also acknowledge the challenges facing consumers. This year the price of a national stamp increased to €1.85. I went back through the records. It has gone up at a fair pace in the last ten years. In 2016, a national stamp was 72 cent. In 2017, it went up to €1.00 and now we are at €1.85 for a regular national stamp. There is a risk of blasting through €2.00 for a national stamp and it does not seem to get any attention. The cost of sending a letter to destinations across Europe, including Britain, went to €3.50.

I know An Post is facing rising costs and has fixed overheads but these increases are big for our citizens and those that use An Post services, and are particularly felt by older people who continue to rely on traditional postal services. They will be compounded by the new customs charges being applied on low-value items entering Ireland from outside the European Union. Where online retailers do not collect these charges at the point of purchase, customers may face an administrative charge of €6.95 from An Post. At a time when households across the State are feeling cost-of-living pressures, these additional costs will be keenly felt by consumers because they will be passed on to them.

Like others, I want to raise a local issue around Harmonstown sorting office. The post office and postal service have been part of the fabric of Artane, Harmonstown and the wider areas on the northside for generations. Now there is a proposal to move that sorting office to Finglas. It is understandable that residents and businesses are very concerned about the impact that will have on them. Finglas is a minimum 10 km journey from Harmonstown for many people. While I understand and have been told any relocation is not expected to occur until 2027 and that planning is ongoing, meaningful engagement with local communities must take place before these decisions are nailed down and finalised.

I want to support An Post. It has done great service for years. However, it is vital it does not compromise local services and senior citizens in particular accessing services provided in Harmonstown. Those services need to be made available to them elsewhere, nearby, so they can access them. Like others, I am pushing An Post to ensure there is not any reduction in services as a result of these charges because there is a serious lack of clarity at the moment as to what is happening with these services. An Post must answer those questions. The funding enhancement of post offices will be of little value if we cannot have those services and bring communities along with us into this new era.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We can tell a great deal about the strength of a rural community by the services that remain at its heart. If the school is open, the local shop is trading, the GAA club is thriving and the post office is still there, that community has a bright future. That is why this Bill matters. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson on rural affairs, I am delighted to support this legislation because it is about much more than funding a postal network. It is about protecting an essential piece of Ireland's social and economic infrastructure. For generations the local post office has been part of the fabric of community life. It is where people collect their pensions, access Government services, carry out their banking, send parcels, pay bills and, just as importantly, meet their neighbours and friends and keep connected to their community. For many older people, those living alone and those who are less comfortable with digital services, the post office remains their most trusted connection with the State and that role should never be underestimated.

Rural Ireland has faced enormous changes over recent decades. We have seen the loss of banks, Garda stations and many other local services. Every time a service disappears, communities lose a little more of what makes them vibrant and sustainable. That is why we must continue to support our post office network. The funding that will be provided through this Bill will give certainty to postmasters and to the communities they serve. It recognises the pressures created by declining mail volumes, rising costs and changing consumer habits, while giving An Post the opportunity to continue modernising and developing the network for the future.

However, this should not simply be about maintaining what we have. It should also be about recognising what our post offices can become into the future because our post offices are trusted, accessible and located in the heart of communities across the country. As Government continues to modernise public services, we should continue exploring every opportunity to deliver more services through this network, making life easier for our citizens while strengthening the long-term future of our post offices.

Fianna Fáil has always believed that people should not have to leave rural Ireland to enjoy the same quality of public services as those living elsewhere. Balanced regional development means investing in the infrastructure that allows people to live, work, raise families and grow older in the communities that they love. The post office is part of that infrastructure because it supports local businesses, strengthens community life and provides an invaluable service to people every single day. This Bill is a clear statement that the Government recognises that value and is prepared to invest in it. It is an investment in our communities in rural Ireland and in ensuring that no part of our country is left behind. I am delighted to support this Bill and I congratulate the Minister of State for bringing it to the House.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Post offices provide proven, irreplaceable benefit to the communities they serve. They contribute to local economies and offer critical services and access for older people, vulnerable citizens and marginalised communities. When we see in the decade up to this time last year that 257 post offices had closed across the State, it should have set alarm bells ringing. As a TD for a rural constituency, it is particularly stark that 201 of those post offices were rural. Eleven of them were across Cavan and Monaghan.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss increased funding for our post office network and I welcome that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have finally woken up to the challenge. I understand that this legislation will facilitate an additional €15 million allocation to An Post this year in line with what was advocated by Sinn Féin in our alternative budget proposals last year. This is positive and I do welcome it. This funding will contribute towards preventing upwards of 40% of the remaining post offices from having to close, which the Irish Postmasters Union had warned last year would occur without it. While this funding and this measure are welcome, there is an urgent need now for the Government to finally accept the need for a new public service mandate for post offices. I must commend the Irish Postmasters Union on this. It has brought forward proposals of enhanced benefits it can deliver. Now is the time for Government to urgently reflect upon and progress this.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I am delighted to have this opportunity to talk on this. On 18 June 2026, I raised a Topical Issue about the proposed closure and relocation of Harmonstown delivery sorting unit. I welcome the work in the Bill but I would appreciate if the Minister of State could look into this for my constituents. I have started a petition that has over 1,200 signatures online and there are over 800 in relation to post offices and the uncertainty that this has brought to my constituents. I welcome the engagement on this and that the Minister of State recognises the local post office is more than just a post office and is giving that guarantee to elderly people with disabilities so they know they do not have to transport the whole way to Finglas to collect a missed package.

From speaking to residents and local businesses, the level of concern has not gone away. People are now telling me, regarding the public statement I received from the Minister at the time, that they do not believe they have been properly consulted, that deliveries are already under pressure and that local post offices simply do not have the space or capacity to accommodate the significant volumes of missed parcels. If those concerns are accurate then they deserve to be addressed openly and transparently.

I want to be clear that I welcome the engagement with An Post but I would appreciate if they would give more clarity to my constituents. It provides an outstanding public service every day and has hardworking men and women but my concern is with the planning of this proposal and the lack of confidence it has created locally. I ask the Minister of State for an update and whether the Department has sought further clarification that this is not just happening in my constituency. Is the Minister of State satisfied there has been meaningful consultation across constituencies that are losing their sorting offices? The uncertainty that remains is not acceptable to my constituents and this needs to be addressed. I would appreciate if the Department could reach out and give certainty to my constituents.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about post offices. First of all, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and the Government for giving them financial assistance this year because they do need it. Like every other Member, I appreciate our post office network. I am sad to think that so many post offices have closed around us over the years.

I remember the previous postmasters in Kilgarvan, Denis P. O'Sullivan and his brother John O'Sullivan. Before them were Bridie and James Cronin. She used to send her brother out with the telegrams. My uncles told me a story - all of them are long passed - that they met him one day going up the road with a telegram. He asked them if he had much further to go. They asked him where he was going and he told them to mind their own business and tell him how far he had to go. That is how trusted, secretive and dependable the people who work for the post office are. They retain the confidence of the people and that is why. At the present time in Kilgarvan, we have a great operator. He has been there for many years now and he is a most reliable person, Padraig Sweeney, and we are proud to have him running and operating the post office in Kilgarvan.

We have lost post offices, like I said, in Clonkeen, Gneevgullia, Headfort, Blackwater Bridge and different places. Invariably, they were at the centre of each locality. If the post office is not there, a place loses its identity. We are in trouble now with so many shops closing in rural areas. In many rural villages, there is nothing left but the post office. We hope that we will retain the post offices because as has been said here, the post office, the school and the GAA club are so vital for retaining the identity of parishes throughout the length and breadth of rural Ireland. We hope we will retain the post offices in Kilgarvan, Kenmare and Glenflesk. They are the nearest ones to me at the present time and we appreciate the great work they do.

The Government, however, should advise people on social welfare payments more to draw their payments through the post office rather than going to the bank. Over the years, we have had enough done for the banks. Payments should always be directed to the post office because it is on each transaction the post office gets paid and to ensure business is kept in them, we should do as much transactions as we can in the post offices. People should not be sent elsewhere to bigger towns because there are no longer banks in villages and it is very important for people to meet. Social interaction is so important with people. People are becoming very lonely in rural places because they do not meet as much as they used to at the creamery, the shop or the pub.

In tougher times, we had post offices everywhere and a Garda station. We do not have a Garda station in Kilgarvan now. Many parishes do not. We had a doctor's surgery in every parish and a social welfare office. There were several small schools in a parish but in the late fifties, they directed the smaller schools to close and sent them to a central school. That was a very sad thing and it hurts me at times when I see people in areas passing their own small, local school and going into a bigger school in town. We must try to retain what we have and what we had. The school in the locality is very important to retain the identity of that locality.

Then there are the pubs and shops, as we all know. In Kilgarvan at one time, we had 26 shops. Now we have just two. That is replicated throughout many parishes in Kerry. Even Gneevgullia does not have a shop. The last place to close was the post office and the shop that went along with the post office. It is so important to subsidise post offices or give them an opportunity to remain open. To remain open, they must be profitable for the owners because there are a lot of costs and overheads. There are so many different things.

The one thing that is hitting every kind of an outlet at the present time is rates and commercial rates. It is sad to think that there are shops closing all over County Kerry, including in Killarney at the present time. It has been told to me that the cost of commercial rates has gone up since the rates review. The cost of paying the rates has gone way up. It is hurting and causing businesses to close. The Government must recognise this and we, the Members, must highlight it and bring it forward to the Government here because maybe it is not known as much as we elected Members know about it as we are on the road every day and know what the problems are. We must look at the rates and how they are applied and charged for many businesses. Many businesses are now afraid to open their doors because they will be liable for a rates bill from that minute onwards.

I again thank the Minister of State for recognising the post offices and ensuring they keep going for the present time. Like I said to him, we must ensure more business is directed through the post office to ensure its viability. We appreciate the parcel service it has at the present time. It is second to none. There is stuff coming out of vans every day coming to our door and it is the same right through the parish, including on Saturday. It is a great service and each and every one of us most do our utmost, and it is incumbent on us, to ensure we deal with the post offices, especially for that great service as well. It means so much in a rural community where people are out on a limb and where it is so far away to go to the bigger towns. When you talk about going to the city of Cork, it is a day's work to go to and come from there, if you were to do business that far away. I thank the Minister of State for this great effort.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I thank everyone across the House for their various contributions to this amendment legislation today, and for the broad support there is through the Houses of the Oireachtas for it to be passed. I thank the Dáil and the Seanad, where it will be later on this week, for their engagement in planning this. It is important that we pass this legislation before the Dáil and the Seanad go into recess so that we are in a position, from a Government point of view, to make the payments to An Post for it to be in a position to make the payments to post offices. An Post has been applying the increased payments to post offices since January this year. For us, it is important now to make sure that we are making the Government payment to it for what it has already paid out in increased payments as well as what is going to be due to post offices before the end of the year.

This is a significant increase. It is a 50% increase on what was in place in respect of payments to post offices and postmasters last year. The past three years has been the first time we have seen payment from the Government that is going to post offices to support them in the services they are providing to local communities. Once again, I thank and acknowledge all the postmasters across the country and their staff for the really valuable work they carry out within communities, and for the face-to-face community service they provide, as well as the postal, business and banking services they also provide to that community. The strength of contributions here today and the strength of feeling within communities is very much a reflection of the work our post offices do. Of course, by our post offices, we mean the staff that drive them, the people who open them in the morning, close them in the evening and open them on Saturdays to make sure their communities are well served.

As I said, 2025 was the first time the Government introduced a payment to support the work of post offices. For the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, the payment was at a rate of €10 million per year. The legislation in place provided for that €10 million to be paid up to a maximum of €30 million. As the figure of €30 million has been reached and a new and significantly increased payment structure has been agreed with postmasters, we need to amend the legislation to provide for that payment to be made over the next five years at a rate of €15 million per year. This small piece of legislation we are discussing today provides for the Act to be updated to accommodate a payment of €105 million between now and 2030 at a rate of €15 million per year to postmasters.

As I said at the outset, we have approximately 870 post offices, 40 of which are run directly by An Post. Therefore, we have approximately 830 post offices run on contract by postmasters. This €15 million is a 50% increase compared with the previous year and it will be paid across the 830 post offices. Those 40 post offices run directly by An Post do not avail of this particular funding. It is only for post offices run on contract by postmasters. Different criteria are used to allocate this funding, which give a stronger weighting to smaller post offices and those in more peripheral areas. However, if we were to take the average of this €15 million funding divided by the 830 post offices, it would be worth €18,000 per year to an individual post office.

The different criteria as to how the funding will be distributed and how much each post office will receive were agreed between An Post and the postmasters. A total of 47% of the fund - some €7 million - is allocated on the basis of a community access impact payment. That is based on where the next nearest post office is to the post office receiving the payment. Another 44% of the individual payment to a post office goes towards payment for higher operational costs. There is also a transitional support payment of 8% to make sure that every postmaster is receiving at least a minimum increase from the previous scheme. While the average per post office is €18,000, these criteria will decide how much each post office will actually receive. They were negotiated, discussed in great detail and agreed between the postmasters' union and An Post.

What we are doing now in the Dáil is following through on the Government’s commitment to support the post office network through this payment. This significant increase is a reflection of the Government’s commitment to the work that post offices do. There is no doubt that it is needed and necessary to ensure we can maintain our post office network across the country. There is also no doubt that if it were not for the Government introducing this payment over the past three years, we would have seen more post office closures. Making that significant increase now is important to maintain the post office footprint across the country. Our objective is to maintain as strong and widespread a network as possible. We seek to keep the post offices that we have in communities open. That is why we are increasing that fund by 50% this year.

A few issues have been raised through the various contributions this evening. In the city of Dublin, there is the issue of the adjustments to the sorting offices, which is an issue of concern in some communities. Indeed, that is something we are seeing happening across the country at the moment. It is important that there is appropriate engagement with local communities by An Post when it is making, proposing and putting forward those steps.

There is a significant change to the work An Post is carrying out. We have seen a reduction in postal volumes and the number of letters posted. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in parcel volumes. That brings a significant change to the services and infrastructure An Post needs to be able to deal with that demand. For example, in 2025, parcel volumes increased by 27% compared with 2024. So far this year, An Post has indicated that parcel volumes are almost running 50% higher in the months of January and February compared with the same period in 2025. It is rapidly evolving. It is important that An Post ensures it is at the forefront of that transition in order to be able to provide a good service. It must make sure it has the infrastructure, services and facilities in place to be able to deal with that additional volume. From a Government point of view, we are working with An Post to support it in that transition and make sure it remains as relevant in people’s lives and provides as strong a service as it has done in the past.

Deputy Doherty mentioned the issue of the post office in Anagaire. It is our objective to keep as many post offices as we possibly can open. That is why we have introduced in the Dáil this week a 50% increase in the Government’s contribution to support post offices. An Post has also indicated that over the course of the past year, it has seen an increase of approximately 10% in transactions across post offices, which is welcome. We want to see that continue so that more revenue is coming into our post offices. I will engage with the local community in Anagaire and with An Post to ensure that everything can be done to maintain that post office in the local community, as we are doing with the post office network generally. Post offices are so important to the local community. That is the reason we are introducing this 50% increase in the Government’s contribution to post offices and postmasters in the Dáil. It will support them in their work and keep the network as strong as it possibly can be.

I thank Deputies across the House for their various contributions and support for this Government action to increase post office funding. I look forward to Committee Stage tomorrow and to taking this Bill through the Seanad so that it will be implemented and in place.