Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is a very important debate about rural Ireland, rural post offices and where the service is going. It is important for us to acknowledge where we have come from. It was only a few months ago that we had to increase the price of stamps and put a new regime in place to safeguard An Post. An Post was five months away from going under. It provides a major service for rural Ireland and for our nation. It was in a financial situation that needed action. Our Minister acted appropriately to ensure An Post was safeguarded. It is important. Postal services in every nation in the world are under pressure because technology is changing to facilitate things such as Internet banking and email. The volume of mail has changed. There has also been major progress. An Post's parcel service has gone from strength to strength over the past number of years and is becoming a major driver to ensure An Post can survive as an entity. It is a very important to ensure that An Post survives as an entity.

There are proposed closures in the post office service in the next few months. In my village of Minane Bridge we have a post office. The postmistress, Anita Dempsey, was there for 37 years and last Friday she closed up shop. I spoke at that moment and I spoke when we closed down the shutters. There were mixed emotions but no bitterness because people have moved on to the next level and now use facilities such as Internet banking. The entity has changed. A small post office in a village of 34 houses is becoming nearly impossible to sustain and the community recognises that. In my constituency, four post offices closed and I received two letters about it. That indicates the demand of the public with regard to this issue.

The Minister has invested in the service to ensure the 960 post offices that are left can thrive and be sustainable. It is a significant investment and a significant plank of local and national policy. That is what we need to do now. We need to move forward to ensure our postal service and parcel service can progress. The services we are proposing can be part of that. It is a Government policy. It is part of what we have been doing for the past few years. It is in contrast to what Fianna Fáil has done. What Fianna Fáil did in post offices in the early 2000s must be read into the record. There were hundreds of closures of post offices all over the country. When we had money, Fianna Fáil had no vision. If one looks for the Fianna Fáil vision on this, according to the party's spokesperson on this issue, Deputy Dooley, who spoke in the Dáil last night, it is now proposing that pubs should become post offices. That is not a policy. It is not logic or what rural Ireland wants. We want a strategic policy that protects our 960 post offices to ensure they can develop, not to move into pubs. Where is Fianna Fáil going with this policy? It is wing and a prayer stuff. It is unfortunate.

Irish society needs a clear vision. The Minister has given me that clear vision over the past few months and An Post is a better place because of it. We have seen the turnaround. We have seen this entity change its model and become successful. That is what society and rural Ireland wants. That is why I am so passionate about supporting the amendment I have moved. They are what we need to ensure that An Post and rural Ireland can develop.