Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Are we ever going to move forward with the actual debate about the post office service itself? Rural Ireland has changed dramatically, particularly over the past eight to ten months. The question about where we are going to put the post office service will be a significant issue that this House will need to debate.

In my part of the world, we could end up with the post offices only available in the major towns while losing a spread of local sub-offices across the entire county. A debate about how we are going to regenerate the post office network and involve it in the psyche of rural regeneration will be a big issue. The online aspect which we have all seen, particularly over the past eight and ten months, is something we need to start looking at with the post offices. With the old idea about them dealing with motor tax and so forth, online has taken up so much of that space. The debate has to look at something really imaginative, like an online hub of which the post office will be part.

For that to happen, a real and meaningful debate in the House is required. We need to have the Minister before us and we need to start thinking outside the box. If the past eight months have shown us anything and how society has changed, it is not about a service one goes to meet. Unfortunately, people do not want to do that now. It is about accessing services. We need to have that debate about how we can get these spaces more active.

I have seen in my part of the world that when one provides high-speed broadband and a central location, people who work from home do not want to spend all five days at home. They want to have the opportunity to go to a space where they can have high-speed broadband which will then tie into the service. The post office service has to be a part of that. We need a genuine debate on how we can regenerate in this area.