Results 2,841-2,860 of 9,052 for speaker:Hildegarde Naughton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: There are 900 different postmasters with different cost bases and that makes sense because we all know post offices in different locations, where some are co-located and where some may be part of another building, so there are different cost bases.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: We knew that the income on that was €10 million. That was clear from the analysis and evidence around this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: That is it exactly. It is also important to say that the pandemic relief fund announced last July was €8.5 million over 18 months. This is €10 million over 12 months. This is substantially more than the pandemic relief fund which comes to an end at the end of this year. The postmasters wanted clarity by the end of June, this month, on that because many of them were going to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: That will be worked out with An Post, working with the Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU, on a pyramid basis. We will be targeting those post offices that are most in need of support. There will also be incentives built into that and this will then be approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The key aim here is to prevent closures of our existing post office network and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: Everyone-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: Everyone will receive something but it will be based on incentives and on a pyramid system where we are targeting those which are least viable at the moment. This makes sense.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: That is the concern right across the country. This is about communities and people having access to their local post office.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: It is grant aid which is based on state aid rules and we all know the criteria around state aid. This is about funding post offices which otherwise would not be able to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: My aim with this package is to ensure that our existing network of post offices remain open. It is my aim and objective, as well as An Post's, to drive more business and to get more services into these post offices. That is why, as well as part of my call today, which is a very positive and historic day for post offices, that we are asking local people to start using their local post...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: Taking the Department of Transport, for example, motor tax is one area we will be looking at in providing that revenue. That Department said that it would potentially have services that could be provided off-line and could go through the post office network. The Department of Social Protection has also said that. That is why that as part of that interdepartmental group this needs to be a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: There is a huge drive in An Post and it has the capability to pitch for online and offline services there. That is what my aim is. At the end of the day, this is about communities. What is the aim here? The social value is difficult to try to quantify but we all appreciate it. It is that the service is there. We know the effect. I spoke to a postmaster yesterday, as I mentioned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Senator. It is much appreciated.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: It is based on state aid rules approval which has to be got, but there will not be an issue with that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: Yes. It is a cross-Government matter. It is not just one Department. There are potentially some services that are available but they are under contract at the moment so we have to wait for those. It must be a whole-of-government approach for there to be offline services available for communities across the country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: It is a pyramid system so it will be targeted at the post offices that are most in need and struggling the most. It will be based on that. An Post will be working with the IPU on the consultation in that regard. Approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will be required. I do not yet have the details of it. They have to be worked out. However, that is the principle....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: There will also be an incentivised payment to promote commerciality as part of that mix. The details have to be worked out but we are protecting the most vulnerable post offices.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: There will also be incentivisations for commercial activity as part of that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: Is the Deputy referring to the provision of banking services?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of the An Post Network: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Hildegarde Naughton: An Post is actively working on commercial initiatives that can be rolled out across the network. That is something it is working on. The work on offline services or other State services is happening at an all-of-government level. As I said at the outset, when I looked at the interdepartmental report, it was very clear to me that this alone would not be enough to keep our post offices open....