Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to address the issue of Government policy on the post office network on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, who has responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post. It is important to remember that An Post is a commercial State body with its own board. Decisions relating to the post office network are an operational matter for An Post directly.

Two years ago, Government was presented with a future for An Post and the post office network that was very uncertain and extremely bleak. The environment in which the post office operates is changing and the network needs to change to thrive, particularly with the move to digital transactions. These changes are impacting on the revenue being generated by the network as a whole. In the face of serious declines in the volume of mail and post office business, An Post faced growing losses and has had to undertake a major restructuring of its business to continue to be able to provide its services. The sharp decline in the activity made it inevitable that the size of the network would be affected.

In regard to the post office network, An Post agreed an exit arrangement allowing postmasters to retire if they so wished. It established a protocol which set out how the company would facilitate the continued provision of post office services where this occurred. Its aim is to make as many post offices as possible viable. It takes account of minimum service levels, as well as a range of other issues. Reflecting its commitment to sustaining a nationwide post office network and daily mails service, the Government made €30 million in State funding available to An Post in 2017, of which €15 million is being used to support the renewal of the post office network, with the other €15 million being used for the continued fulfilment of a five-days-a-week mails delivery service. This, in turn, will secure the future of mail and post office services for local communities throughout the country in rural and urban areas.

There is widespread acceptance that the post office network requires modernisation to build, maintain and protect a service that meets the needs of communities across the country. An Post's renewed vision for the post office network centres on the availability of new services in a modernised, revitalised network. These services must include a better range of Government services, financial services and e-commerce services for shoppers and small businesses. As part of its consideration of the financial position of An Post the Government agreed that further opportunities for Government business through the post office network should be explored. The first practical step that the Government has taken is the launch of the digital assist pilot initiative. Government funding of €80,000 has been allocated to the scheme which has seen ten post offices kitted out to assist citizens with online Government interactions. All ten post offices went live in the week beginning 20 October 2018 and the pilot scheme will finish in April this year. The pilot will provide data and insight in relation to the provision of offline Government services to citizens. A review of the initiative will be carried out in quarter 2, 2019 and feedback from this review will inform consideration of further offline services.

On 4 September 2018, the Government approved the establishment of an interdepartmental group to Identify options, including procurement frameworks, for delivering services to those citizens who do not wish to use, or are unable to use, digital services. Where a business need is identified, it has been agreed to develop a procurement framework which would allow for the central provision of offline services by Government. The group will provide a report on its deliberations this year. The findings of this group may be of use to An Post in the longer term.

On 17 January 2019, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, renewed her Department's contract with An Post to provide pensions, child benefit and other social welfare payments in cash at post offices. The social welfare contract accounts for over €51 million in payment services. In addition, the Department paid over €10 million for postal services to An Post in 2018. The current terms of the contract between the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and An Post were agreed in 2013 for an initial two-year period, with an option to extend annually up to 2019. This reaffirms Government policy which sees the post office network as a key piece of the country's financial and social infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. Accordingly, the programme for Government commits to actively encourage payment at post offices. Investment of €50 million in the network by An Post is based on getting communities to use the enhanced services that their local post office will provide through a modernised network. Key to the survival of the network is the willingness of the public to use the service the post office provides. In light of the challenges it is facing, the company will have to pursue an ambitious agenda across its business areas and there is likely to be significant change and new business models implemented in the coming years.This should be viewed positively as it will result in a solid, sustainable business future. Two years later, critically important decisions have been made. An Post has been stabilised because of the action that has been taken. All avenues are being explored to ensure services available through the post office network are enhanced such that we have a strong, customer-focused, viable network.

Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. This is the general response from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I understand that the Government is committed and has provided resources but to say that the additional supports have been given to An Post and practical steps have been taken to launch a new digital assist pilot initiative, with Government funding to be provided through the post office network, is little consolation to people losing post offices in their own towns or villages. They will not be able to access those services because their post office is gone. The manner in which this happened is all wrong. The forward thinking should have happened before any decision about closing post offices took place. The door is now closed, the horse has left the stable and people are losing out. It is very poor public policy and the Department has really got this wrong. The level of engagement with An Post was very poor.

An Post has to be financially viable but there were many other options of providing additional State services through the post office network to assist with the viability of post offices that could have been looked at first. That did not happen and we are here now. I am not making a political point on the issue since it has been going on for many years. It should have been dealt with and was not. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to instruct An Post to engage with communities that contact it? That is not happening at present.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which is important to many of us who represent rural areas, but we have to be real in our commentary. I acknowledge the Senator's desire not to be political. Some 30 post offices were closed in Donegal between 2002 and 2010 when Fianna Fáil was in office and two when Fine Gael was in office between 2011 and 2016. The politics of this do not interest anybody and I accept that the Senator has posited that himself. The reality is that human behaviour has changed and people have voted with their feet, choosing to go online in large numbers. We cannot continue to subsidise something that is not viable and have to work collectively towards its future viability. I have outlined efforts to do that. I will take on board the Senator's request. In defence of An Post, as a politician in Cork, I have found it to be extremely co-operative in engaging with us and with local communities. I will pass the Senator's comments regarding An Post on to the Minister.