Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I retained the status quobecause I did not believe in getting involved in any of those controversies. As Senator Buttimer will be aware, in my six and a half years in Ministry I never got into any controversies in any Department I served in. The Senator can check that out. I was clear in my mandate and my responsibilities and I was committed in the Departments of Posts and Telegraphs, Transport, Health and, indeed, as Minister of State with responsibility for trade and marketing negotiating the Single European Act, which, by the way, was very effective. To put those in context, I could write a book about what went on at that time. I appointed a particular appointee in a particular town in Sligo and I met the person who did not get it. I asked, "How's life?" "How's life", he said, "when you did not give me the post office?" I could not tell him what the report stated about the situation - I will go no further than that.

Fianna Fáil never actually closed post offices. Let us be quite clear about that.