Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber to give us the opportunity to say what we feel and to outline the importance we place on this vital service, which is the heartbeat of many of our communities.

Over the past few days, I have thought about the impact, just in my own life, of those working in the service. I could not stop thinking about that jingle, "Who Are the People in Your Neighbourhood?", from "Sesame Street". As a child growing up in Rathangan, Molly Forde, who was the local postmistress, was such an incredible woman. She was always so kind and was the hub of everything that went on. She also controlled the electoral register. She knew when everybody was going to be 18 and could put them on the register. Her son-in-law, Alan, continued that for a long time. Even now, Connie and Shane are there, and Brendan, Marie, John and Frances are in the Newbridge post office. It is such a joy to be able to go in and see what they do.

The postmasters' ask is very clear. They need to have €15 million annually, tied in for the next five years, to be sustainable and to continue the excellent service they are giving. That is 50% over what they are receiving at this point. When we look at the service they give and the social impact they have, this is value for money. This is the equivalent of a cup of coffee for every citizen in Ireland. A significant number of postmasters are earning less than the minimum wage. They are earning less than the people they have to employ to make sure there is an excellent service everywhere.

I looked at some other countries to see how they manage their post office system. It was interesting to see that France has expanded its post office service into digital services, banking and a lot more government services than we have. That is a very good lesson for where we could go. There is no doubt that our post offices could continue to evolve to be strong community hubs. There could be a payment collection, motor tax and driving licence services, or vehicle registration. There are so many different types of government activities that people are frustrated about and for which they have to try to get to a large town. A lot of that could be collated and done locally by people they trust. That is the essence of what postmasters do. I thank the Chair very much for giving me an extra few seconds. I appreciate it.