Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. At the outset, I commend the postmasters and postmistresses for the wonderful job they have done in providing the social and economic hubs in these communities. Some of the language that has been used has been grossly unfair. They have the responsibility of the whole parish or the whole area and people are looking to them in a way that they expect them to keep their post office open and I think there is a gross unfairness about that.

I propose an amendment seeking to remove a farcical paragraph in the motion implying that pre-2011 post office closures were acceptable and by the book. I was astounded to hear Deputy Dooley, when asked on RTÉ about Fianna Fáil closing post offices, say it was not planned. Those were the exact words that he used. That was astounding. Has Fianna Fáil gone back to any of those communities which had a post office axed and asked them if they now accept that was necessary? It is ridiculous to state that previous closures of post offices were different or somehow justified. This Private Members' motion states that previous closures were based on population. This is simply not factual. The population living in the countryside grew from roughly 2.34 million in 1986 to 3.36 million in 2011, an increase of 30%. The national figure for that period was 20%. Ireland has a significant rural based population. Rural dwellers make up 42% of the population, compared to an average 27% in the EU and 12% in Britain.

Fianna Fáil closed 732 post offices when last in government. That is nearly one a week. This is a new Fianna Fáil strategy to try to convince people that all was well before the election in 2011. It is even claiming that the health waiting lists were in a much better condition prior to 2011.

The closures overseen by the last Fianna Fáil Government were as much of an attack on rural Ireland as the current closures. It should at least have the honesty to admit that it was wrong then and it is wrong now. The communities that will be left without a post office service following the current closures, or which were left without one ten years ago, are not as easily fooled as it thinks. Fianna Fáil closed post offices to save money because it bailed out the banks. Simple, ordinary people paid with higher taxes and huge cuts in services. The post offices were also hit. The three major banks made a profit of €2.6 billion last year and they do not have to pay any tax on it. When we talk about decisions on finances and investment that need to be made in rural Ireland, we could ensure the banks pay their fair share of tax. Our colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, has shown how this could, and must, be done. Vulture funds have charitable status and millions of euro are going down the drain. I do not accept that it is about the allocation of resources, as the Minister said. It is about choices that different Governments have made and that the Government is making now in terms of whether we look after vulnerable populations or we continue to turn our backs on rural Ireland.

Up to 159 post offices across the State will be closed. Once the post office goes, what else will be left in the main street in many of our towns and villages? It is much more than a post office. This is symptomatic of the way rural Ireland has been treated. If a post office can disappear from a community, then the same threat hangs over many other services, such as schools and clinics. When I drive to Dublin every week, I pass through villages like Bellacorick, which once had a vibrant post office, pub and shop, but it is now a completely closed village. The consensus is that more services are needed in post offices. Current closures are a slap in the face to those working hard to come up with solutions.

I know what the Minister is saying and we all accept the practicalities and the realities but it was insulting to tell people from parishes like Ballycroy, where I was reared, that people now choose to go to Aldi and Lidl. I do not think that was right.