Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To return to the matter at hand, I join Senator Leyden in his declaration of support for the post office network. I do not buy into the rural Ireland saga of neglect, but it is there. There is no point in me going over it again. We have witnessed the withdrawal of so many services throughout rural Ireland. It is quite depressing. I come from a business background in the town of Listowel, which was always a thriving market town. There are an awful lot of empty premises there, with premises to let. There was a very good programme highlighting that on RTÉ's "Prime Time" last night. It was disturbing. The problem affected villages first but is affecting towns now. What is next?

In regard to post offices, we support the Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment's policy, A New Vision for Post Office Services in Ireland. It envisages the roll-out of many new services through the post offices, including motor tax, vehicle registration, driver licence services, identifying verification for Government service applications and a digital assist service for people unwilling or unable to use electronic channels for the delivery of Government services. It calls for post offices to provide payment collection services for public authorities, including local authorities, education providers and social services and for payments, including commercial waste fees, licences, planning applications and parking and other fines or payments. All this is extremely good in theory and we support it. We support new services being offered through the network, such as the ability to conduct more financial transactions, assistance in filling out Government forms and so on.It sounds great and we all buy into it but the reality is that post offices, which were the hub of struggling communities, are closing. The Fianna Fáil way forward is the right way forward; there should be some form of public service obligation model. We have to take a hit. It is a fine line between what is commercially viable and what is economically vital for a community. It is something that every Minister is probably faced with every day of the week. Where does one draw the line? It is a line that must be drawn on the expensive side. We will have to take the hit if we are to try to keep rural services going.

Without repeating what has already been said ad nauseamor what Senator Leyden has said, we should, where possible, let the public service obligation model come into play. Let us find what is essential. I will put my hands up and say Fianna Fáil closed post offices. We took a lot of flak at the time. We really cut it to the bone at the time. There is no further room unless one wants to capsize the whole system altogether by closing it down and giving it to privateers or something like that. The English model is not a bad model to follow in this particular area. The English are not always wrong about everything. The Minister knows what the story is. Our motion is a serious one. We are trying to be positive and strike a balance with the Minister on the continued survival of rural Ireland and the post offices, many of which have been red-lined in my district in places such as Moyvane, Ballylongford and so on. They are essential and the people who use the services will not have any ready alternative without travelling fairly serious distances. The people who will be most affected by this are the most vulnerable in society. These are people who will never get into technology, the elderly or others who may be confused by such things. What some of us think is no bother may be a huge mountain to climb for people of a certain age and background. That is the story and I second the motion.