Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, and the debate taking place in the Seanad. As the Minister has outlined, post offices are the largest retail network in the country with 1,150 post offices employing 3,700 people, 1,100 of which offices are operated by postmasters who are locally based SMEs providing employment, facilitating economic activity and community engagement. It is vital now more than ever that the post office network is supported. A total of 30% of all post office business is derived from delivering social welfare cash payments, but the State is moving towards electronic payment, and utilities are moving towards electronic billing and payments. Stamp sales are falling as more communication is done electronically and the network is under considerable pressure. In that light, the appointment of a review group led by Mr. Bobby Kerr is most welcome. It will report shortly to the Government on what services could be offered through the post office network. I hope suggestions emanating from the group will be received quickly, examined thoroughly and implemented quickly.

In addition, the Department of Social Protection will pay more than €50 million to An Post under a contract for cash payment services to welfare customers this year. Approximately half of all welfare payments, amounting to more than €8.5 billion a year, go through the post office network, benefiting more than 800,000 customers. This money represents almost 20% of Government day-to-day spending, showing the significance to An Post of this very important contract and the importance of the network to the State. The contract will support jobs and communities throughout the country.

It must be repeated time and again that a rural post office is not just a commercial office. It is something of a social service. The Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, acknowledged that today. People meet and greet in post offices which offer a service to communities and which might be the only bricks and mortar service for miles around. We have seen recently the closure of the only bank in a midlands town. The banks are retrenching in terms of their branch network and An Post is considering the alternatives. Rather than put all its eggs in the one basket, An Post should actively and aggressively try to grow its business. In this context I am pleased to note that some effort has been taken to do just that. An Post has tendered for the provision of what will be akin to a banking current account. That is something that should have been done long ago. It will be another very useful service it can offer. In addition, Ulster Bank will shortly commence offering services throughout the post office network. Ulster Bank’s customers will be able to make cash deposits, have cheques accepted and pay bills. Other services could include motor tax, driver licence renewals, and the payment of rates, rents and other local authority charges. Lodgement and withdrawal services for credit unions should also be considered. In addition, other options to consider relate to hospital charges, electronic form generation, insurance quotations and pension savings. An Post already offers some very good services that are not well publicised. More could be done to advertise its services. It has for instance a household budget scheme whereby recipients of a wide range of State payments can arrange to have their usual household bills paid by regular deduction. That is a very convenient way to manage a household.

The Minister of State adverted to the recent issuance of letters to randomly selected recipients of State pensions as a trial. It was done to determine the best means of communicating with people about payment options. It was a limited trial in that letters were sent to just under 1% of customers. Customer engagement with the trial was entirely voluntary, as the Minister for Social Protection has promised the Department has not introduced changes nor does it intend to do so. While the State will do all it can to help support the post office network, in particular in rural areas, there must be local support. It is very noticeable that a majority of social welfare recipients choose to have their payment made through electronic transfer. This is obviously done for a variety of reasons, including privacy, which is understandable. The Government cannot force people to have their payments made through the post office network. The very straightforward situation is that if local communities do not choose to use post offices and if An Post does not provide the services that are needed and advertise them properly, the network is at risk. The Government can only do so much and it will play its part. There have been very few post office closures in recent years. The Minister of State stated that compared with when Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats were in office, the Government is fully committed to the post office network. We have commissioned a review of State services that could be offered through the network. I hope such services will be offered very soon. We cannot do it alone, however. Rather than criticise the Government, which has done more than has ever been done to support the network of post offices, the Opposition should urge communities to take their business to their local post office. That will go a long way to ensure the survival of the post office network. Senator Mooney referred to correspondence from the Irish Postmasters Union. I would welcome the comments of the Minister of State on its correspondence with the Department.