Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Senators Mansergh and Feighan for raising this matter. One of the first commitments given by Senator O'Rourke as Minister in June 1997 concerned the post office network. She promised that there would be no forced closures of post offices. The position of Government has not changed since. We remain committed to a viable and competitive post office network.

I draw the attention of the House to the White Paper on Rural Development which formally and unambiguously recognised for the first time the special role of the post office network in the community and gave an explicit commitment, not alone to the retention of the post office network but also to its use for the most comprehensive range of State services to all citizens. The programme for Government also commits us to supporting rural post offices. Such a commitment also recognises, however, that services must respond to changes in rural society. The post office network must be modernised to meet the needs of rural customers. This requires the support of all the key players, including postmasters.

To begin the modernisation process, Mr. Phil Flynn was asked to act as an independent chairperson to progress discussions between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union on the sub-post office network. Specifically, he was asked to review the financial and business environment of the network and examine options and make recommendations on the sustainable development of the rural network in the context of An Post fulfilling its obligation to provide a nationwide service. Under his chairmanship, the views of An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union on the changing financial and business environment were fully explored and the possible options for the sustainable development of the rural post office network examined in detail.