Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to second the Central Bank Bill to which Senator Ardagh referred, which is also known as “the right to be forgotten” Bill. I wish to commend everyone who is involved in relation to this matter. I formally second that Bill.

I want to raise the issue of my village of Castleconnell, because two serious aspects of life in Castleconnell have been highlighted in the last few days. First, in a village of 2,500 people, we have 443 applicants on the housing waiting list. That is 443 families and individuals. The plan right now is to build five council houses between now and 2026. It is absolutely shocking and what it means is that people really are bereft of hope. They are paying exorbitant rents of €1,400 per month for substandard three-bedroom accommodation. A number of people had received eviction notices before the very welcome but belated announcement today. They are, therefore, facing losing their homes at Christmas. The fact is that there is so little planning by Governments and by the local authority - I blame the Government in particular for the lack of funding here - shows just how overlooked the people of Castleconnell have been over the last number of years.

To add further woe, we have been told just this afternoon that our local post office will close as of Friday. People are being asked to travel 6 km to the next post office in Newport, County Tipperary. The fact of the matter is that for a whole host of people, such as pensioners, people with disabilities and people who do not have their own transport, they will have no means of collecting their pension after this week. It is an absolutely shocking indictment. We hear so much about support for rural Ireland but here is the reality: our post office will close on Friday. I have spoken to An Post and, in fairness, it is doing its best to try to get somebody else in to try to keep it open and running. Yet, in the meantime, there is no aspect of life that will not be impacted in the village if the post office closes on Friday. I want to appeal to all involved to try to keep this post office open until we can get a replacement service in place. We cannot lose our post office. It is the heart of our community and it is a shocking indictment that has been let get to this stage.

I appeal for a debate on the role of rural life, in particular, and on the importance of post offices because I think we would all acknowledge it and yet we still see them close. Urgent action should be taken. Once again, I call for a debate on housing, particularly in terms of the appalling impact where I live in Limerick.