Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I am not making any allegations. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I previously raised the issue of Rathmines post office being sold off, as well as the closure of the post offices in Baggot Street, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Kevin Street in recent years. Over the past decade in south Dublin city, a string of post offices have been closed, with no consideration for the effect on local residents. This is having a devastating impact on communities that rely on them.

The record of this Government and its predecessor has been absymal. They have overseen the slow death of our postal network, as has been documented by Government Senators here replacing what are effective community centres with profit-seeking commercial ventures or nothing at all. Without greater investment and a new model for service delivery, post offices will continue to shut down one by one. The post office in Rathmines is moving to a Centra close by. This is no criticism of the owner of Centra. Were it not for him, there would be no postal services in Rathmines, so it is to his credit that he is undertaking to host the services there. The problem is that a business owner can decide that carrying a post office is no longer profitable and then choose to end postal services in that community, which is what has happened a number of times in my constituency. That is happening across the country. It is a symptom of our postal network being hollowed out.

The Rathmines post office could be the centre of Rathmines. It is a beautiful Art Deco building that has served the community since 1934. It is a building that cannot be replaced and if it is allowed to be sold off to a private developer, it would be a huge loss. It must and should be kept in the ownership of the State. When a post office transfers to a new location, the Government needs to ensure that the property remains open to the public by facilitating its transfer to the ownership of Dublin City Council. I know there have been discussions relating to that with local councillors, TDs and Senators. The post office building in Rathmines needs to be kept in public ownership. To sell it off would be an act of recklessness. I understand that parts of the building will continue to be used by An Post as a logistics centre to support operations in the area for up to ten years. This only increases the risk that the front-facing portion of the building will be left vacant and derelict, with few potential tenants likely to accept only having partial access to the property. That is a real concern. There are some proposals from local community activists about what might go into that space. It should be a central community hub for Rathmines. It could be the heart of cultural or community activities. We need to see ambitious, forward-thinking action taken by the State to ensure that this property remains in public and community use and that the long-term good of Rathmines is not left to chance or the whims of the market.