John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Reilly for letting me in at this stage as I have another commitment.

As somebody who represents a rural constituency and has attended many public meetings in villages around the country, I am very aware of the issues at play here.I represent a rural constituency and have attended many public meetings in villages around the country so I am very aware of the issues at play. The motion seems to suggest that the problem has only occurred during the terms of this and the previous Government but nothing could be further from the truth. It is a problem but it is not a recent one. As the Minister pointed out, almost 1,000 post offices were closed between 2003 and 2010, something I also knew from my time as a member of the communications committee during the last Government. I understand that the number between 2011 and 2016 was somewhere between 30 and 40 so the facts do not stack up. The Government needs to support a sustainable and efficient post office network. That is what has been committed to and it is what the Minister outlined in his speech. I welcome many of the initiatives and innovations that will support communities right across the country, particularly in rural areas. I understand that the present closures are as a result of negotiations between postmasters union and An Post.

There needs to be flexibility and innovative ways of providing services, particularly for elderly people in communities where public transport is not available. In Ballindine in County Mayo, local businesses offered to take up some of the services, although I am not sure they received a positive response. There need to be many new services, particularly financial services. In the past nine or ten years, we have seen the closure of bank branches in towns and villages and An Post could fill in for those services. The passport service has been of great value to An Post over the years but in recent years the special passport service which it offered took too long, although this might be because of issues related to under-resourcing in the Passport Office. Many Members will have taken calls on this from people who did not get their passport on time. There is a window of opportunity here for speeding up the passport service via post offices.

The public also has a role to play. Over the past five or ten years, I have sat in halls where 500 people attended a public meeting and if just half of those people supported local post offices we would not have a problem. The Minister and the Government have outlined what they are doing but the public needs to respond. It is important we do not come back in a year or in two years' time to discuss this again. It has reached a tipping point and it needs to be sorted out now.

I am glad to hear of the services the Minister is putting in. We have talked about motor tax and various other things. The last two Governments picked up legacy issues that needed to be dealt with. This is another one and I am glad the see the Minister is dealing with it now. I wish him well in getting it right.