John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and this debate. I support the measures in the Bill. It is a short-term, emergency measure that will not solve the problems of the post offices but at least it will stave off major solvency issues in the short term. This needs to be just a start. The Minister of State referred to reviews. There have been major reviews. In the last Dáil, I was Chairman of the communications committee. We produced a report making suggestions on what needed to be done with post offices but the time for reports is at an end and the time for action is now. This measure has to be implemented and I am glad there is consensus on the approach to it as an emergency measure.

Senator Horkan mentioned motor tax and all of those things. Some of those measures need to be implemented once and for all. We have banks closing down in areas and a post office network that is underutilised. We need to overcome the obstacles to putting more services into the post offices. When rural Ireland is under pressure, successive Governments are blamed. That is the nature of it. I could come in here and argue that fewer post offices closed during the term of the last Government than the one previous to it but at the end of the day, we all seek a solution. Lifestyles have changed and it is important to make it appeal to the public. We have all stood in halls where there was an opposition to a post office closing down. There would often be 400 or 500 people in it but if half of them supported their local post office, we would never have had to go to that hall. People do not shop as locally as much as they used to. I am not blaming the public but the solution is multidimensional. I am not absolving this, the previous or any Government. We need to put more services into the post offices. Banking services and so on need to be fast-tracked because at the end of the day, the sums do not add up. While the volume of mail is declining as a result of e-mail, I note e-mail is nearly out of fashion now because there are so many other forms of communication. That is moving apace and life is moving apace. Everyone is catching up with it so we need action. We will only realise the need for post offices if they disappear. I welcome that this will not be allowed to happen but we need to see action on it as soon as possible. We need to look at the strengths of the postal services. There is a postal service every working day in every part of Ireland and it is important to maintain that.

Another thing that has affected rural Ireland is people shopping online instead of locally. That can be an advantage for post office parcel services. There is a niche there and it has increased hugely. A number of years ago it was almost being discouraged by An Post. Now it sees how it is growing and sees the need to latch onto it. There is more potential for growth in the post office for parcel services. I have spoken to postmen and women and they emphasise that the volume of parcel post has multiplied. That needs to be explored even further. Whatever measure is needed, whether it is through Government or public support, it needs to be done quickly. In the short term, this measure will help to keep the show on the road.