David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 16, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

"(4) The Commission will take into account the unique value that the postal service has in Ireland with regard to the substantial rural population and that particular care should be taken to ensure that the interests of the market will not take precedence over, or put at risk, this vital public service which is part of the fabric of communities and which provides a sense of national and social inclusion.".

We have mentioned the importance of post offices in rural Ireland several times. The past decade has seen considerable decline in those areas. I can provide the Minister with examples of the many villages in County Waterford, such as Bunmahon, that have lost shops, post offices and numerous basic services. This can create problems for villages, leading to them becoming ghost towns. People are concerned about what the future of the post offices across the State will be if the Bill sees the light of day.

Given the general decline in services across rural Ireland, this is not just a question of post offices. For example, three-teacher schools face closure. We are getting to the heart of what sustains and keeps many rural communities together. The Minister is technically correct, in that postal workers are not employed to provide groceries or social care, yet they are a valuable social resource for many people in rural communities who do not have daily access to other people. Due to a lack of public transport, someone may not see another person from one end of the week to the other. People look forward to dropping down to their local post offices. My grandparents lived in Bunmahon all of their lives, my grandmother until she was 96 years old and my grandfather until he was 99 years old. I visited the village on holidays almost every year while I was growing up and I know the importance of the local post office. We were sent down to get groceries, post letters to family members and so on. When my grandparents were able to access the post office, it proved a vital service for them.

I do not call into question the Minister's bona fides, as he sees merit in An Post being a service provider and the State continuing to play a role, but the European agenda evident in many directives puts market forces ahead of communities and individuals. Since the Minister has criticised this approach for many years, he understands my point about the liberalisation ideology that is dominant in the EU and in many of its initiatives that concern An Post's future.

Sometimes, people must be put before market forces. Underpinning many of the Minister's comments is the idea that An Post must be profitable. While we all accept this, we must also accept that a price cannot be put on supporting rural villages and their inhabitants. Sometimes, the price is the subsidisation of companies that provide services to rural communities. The Government should examine how to support the many villages that have suffered because of the Celtic tiger through the closure of shops, restaurants and public houses and have become ghost towns because they lack basic services. Many people are concerned that, if we remove their one remaining service, the local post office, we will rip the heart out of communities. I do not accept the Minister wants to do that, but it could come about if the Bill is passed and the liberalisation agenda continues.

A different Minister could be in the Chamber in five years time. I categorically state that it will not be a Minister in a Fianna Fáil-Sinn Féin coalition Government, as the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, proposed. He knows my position on how advantageous it would be for political parties such as his and mine to work together constructively instead of his party resurrecting Fine Gael every time it is in trouble.