Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept the ruling that my Adjournment matter for this evening on the role of An Post and the Minister in the closure of post offices, has been ruled out of order. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, to come to the House to discuss the closure of rural post offices such as the post office in Bunbeg in my constituency. I will ask the Minister to explain An Post's public service obligation policy.

Another issue which needs to be discussed is the fact that the Minister has allowed this country to lose €13.5 million of EU funding for rural broadband services which was announced in 2011.

The Minister decided he did not want to draw down the money. He gave a reply to a parliamentary question indicating he had consulted with all the providers. I can confirm today that he consulted with none of them because I have contacted all of the providers who have confirmed there was no consultation. Ireland loses €13.5 million or €17.5 million when the co-funding is taken into consideration. This is another example of European moneys being lost to this country. At this time when we are looking for additional European moneys for flood relief works, we need answers to these questions. I ask the Leader to facilitate bringing the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who on a good day can be very flippant with the facts, to the House to explain why he has overseen the loss of more than €13.5 million from rural broadband.