Results 5,781-5,800 of 26,228 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Deputy Carey can go to the Dáil Chamber and then the four of us will be paired off. By that time it may have concluded. I suspect it may be just a once-off vote. What is the vote for?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Typically that is one vote. I would prefer us to conclude the meeting. I propose to suspend the meeting for three minutes to see how we get on. Is that okay?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: I call Deputy Shanahan.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: I have no doubt but that Senator Buttimer will-----

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

Kieran O'Donnell: It has been a long day. I have a couple of questions. I very much welcome the €10 million for An Post. Nothing is more locally based than An Post. There is a post office in Caherconlish, a rural village in my constituency, on the outskirts of Limerick. It is having difficulty securing a successor to Kitsy Hickey, who has been the postmistress there for over 40 years. Her...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: It was in-house.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Does the €10 million, in essence, just counteract the €8 million? I need to understand when the €10 million will come into being and what the process will be for people applying for it.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: That is significant difference.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: One is over 18 months and the €10 million one is over 12 months. That is in 2023. That is great. It is good to hear that. What about the process by which to draw it down?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: This will apply purely to the self-employed contract category of postmasters.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: How will they claim? How will the process work?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: How long does the Minister of State anticipate it will take to get state aid approval? Has this been submitted to the European Commission?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Tuesday.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: As for getting down to negotiations and discussions with An Post and the IPU, I presume the Department, An Post and the IPU will sit down and come up with how people would apply. How long will that take?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Will an implementation group be set up? What will be the mechanism by which it will be agreed how it will be allocated?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Are they being worked on?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: It is a matter of sooner rather than later. The Minister of State is going to the IPU conference. Is that this week?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The big issue, as the Minister of State will be aware, is that the pandemic payment finishes at the end of the year. The postmasters must give six months' notice to An Post if they decide to retire. Many of them will want to make a decision at the end of June. It is extremely important that the Department give some outline as to how the scheme will work and, generally, the level of...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: It was a constructive and productive meeting. There are a number of factors and we would ask the Minister of State to follow up on that. If the weather is bad, there can be people queueing outside T1 and T2 in the rain, which is unacceptable for us as a committee. We ask the Minister of State to follow-up. We made it quite clear to Dalton Philips, the CEO, and his colleagues in the...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: We have asked them to be proactive. All going well, it will be okay at the weekend. People will be queueing but, hopefully, not for an inordinate length of time and they will get their flights. However, if there is any question at all that this is running into serious trouble very early or at any stage, passengers and the general public will not accept anything like what happened last...