Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The issue I raise relates to the post office network. Last June, the Government announced a package deal of over €30 million to support the post office network, with €10 million per year to be provided over three years. That was meant to commence this month but state aid approval and enabling legislation are required in order to bring it to fruition. The legislation in question is the Communications Regulation Bill 2022. That Bill passed Report and Final Stages in the Dáil last Wednesday. Responsibility now falls to the Senate to ensure that the legislation is processed as quickly as possible.

I want to put on record the importance of this support to the post office network. Over 600 post offices will benefit from this support scheme. The post offices are divided into different categories. Those with newer contracts are more reliant on this support than those with older contracts, but all 600 are financially out of pocket because the legislation has not been passed. To put this in monetary terms or to provide an understanding of it, one postmaster I spoke to is out of pocket for December and January to the tune of more than 30%. That brings the viability of the relevant post office and its postmaster into question. We all know how hard it is in business out there in the context of the cost-of-living crisis but we are asking these post offices to survive without this State intervention which was promised to them. Without it, they will not survive. They have already gone through January without it. I am not sure exactly when the legislation will be coming before us but it looks like they will also have to go through February without payment of this support. It is significant because when a business loses 30% of its income, its viability becomes questionable. We all know how important post offices are to our communities and how hard it is to keep them open. Without this support, the viability of every single one of the 600 post offices will be questionable.

I ask the Leader to provide information or guidance on when this legislation will be brought before the House. Can we prioritise it? Can we get it through in one or two weeks in order to ensure that those in the post office network to whom I refer will not be out of pocket for a second month?