Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When I was a younger person, Mary Jackman was a very influential politician in the mid-west. She was somebody people looked up to, as a woman politician at a time when it was not as popular to be a woman in politics. I got to know her very well more recently because she spent much of her time in Fanore. She chose well where to relax and spend time. I share with others in passing on my sympathies and condolences to her family.

Recently, a councillor asked me why we do not have retirement villages zoned within towns. The towns that have retirement villages are fantastic. People can downsize into them and make a more substantial property available to those who need them. We need to incorporate that into our housing plan. We could have a debate on housing needs of older people.

I also welcome the Government's decision to fund An Post by €30 million. It is a substantial amount of money invested to ensure post offices are viable.For many years now we have all debated the importance of post offices. As the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has stepped up to the plate and provided the funding to at least give a guarantee that the post offices will remain open, I call now on the public to use those post offices because it is a problem in particular parts of the country that the public simply does not use the post office.

I call on An Post to step up a little further with the services being in post offices. We need to have more thinking outside the box about what can be done through the post office. We have often heard it described as a potential one-stop shop so let us make it a one-stop shop. Let it be a place where tourists can go for tourism information, for example. There is so much that can be done but the Government has honoured its side of the bargain. It is now time for the public and An Post to honour their sides of the bargain as well.