Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

What Ireland needs now are strong, sustainable communities. Any erosion of the post office service erodes communities, rural and urban. I see that the Minister is wearing the sustainable development pin. Goal 11 of the sustainable development goals is for sustainable cities and communities. I am a regular user of my post office in Tramore, which is well managed and run by its postmaster, Mr. Martin. Tramore is a fast-growing community and there are more than 11,000 people in the town now. When one queues up and looks at the noticeboard one sees information about what is happening in the local community and there is a high level of community engagement in the post office. I have always seen the post office in Tramore as a community centre.

In Kilmeaden, just outside Tramore, there is a campaign called Save Kilmeaden Post Office. The people behind it have put in an appeal because there are 2,000 people there and the community has come out in strength over the past few months to oppose the closure of the office. It has happened but a review is taking place. The postmaster has retired but Donal Hickson, who runs the centre next door and is a really successful retailer as well as being postmaster in another area, would like to take over the post office. I would like the Minister to look into this and other such cases where there is a viable option for a competent and experienced person to provide the service for the local community.

In respect of the Fianna Fáil motion, I agree with introducing a public service obligation, PSO, payment as this is crucial to the long-term health of post offices. At the moment, we are using the PSO levy to subsidise fossil fuel burning, that is, peat for electricity generation. This is driving up greenhouse gas emissions, damaging human health and leading us to potentially massive fines for not meeting our climate and energy targets. How can the Government take the position that money for burning peat is okay, while money to keep the heart of our rural communities beating is a step too far?

In the programme for Government, the Government parties committed to creating a real local community banking system. That has largely been abandoned over the summer, with rowbacks on key elements that would make such a system a real success. Community banking would need proper capitalisation and appropriate lending rules in order to compete with commercial suppliers where possible. This is not what is being proposed and that is a pity. Community banking can still be a way to bring new life and relevance to our post offices and our communities, as can the provision of other public services through the post office network. I was talking to the postmaster in Tramore today and he spoke about the importance of the maintenance of social welfare payments, and the possibility of post offices being a centre for motor tax and for the register of elections. The post office staff could generate Government forms for customers and support customers in rural areas who find it difficult to download those forms. The staff could fill the forms out with the people concerned and return them to the Government, which would be an efficient way to get the completed forms into the system and make things run smoothly.Having read the Fianna Fáil motion, I will support it if it comes to a vote today. I have received correspondence from the Gurteen post office action group, which is very concerned about the possible closure of the post office in Gurteen. I would like to make a representation on its behalf today.