Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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121. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps she will take to ensure that rural post offices remain open and functioning in view of the difficult financial position of An Post. [15654/17]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The postal sector is undergoing significant change both nationally and internationally, with the increased use of electronic communications leading to a 38% decline in core mail volume for An Post from its peak in 2007. In recent years, there has also been a 17% decline in Department of Social Protection payments and a 20% reduction in Billpay transactions, both of which are key revenue lines for the post office network.

While these are ultimately commercial matters for the Board and management of An Post as a commercial State body, the Government is committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions to support the ongoing sustainability of the post office network in the changing business environment in which they are operating.

For my own part, I established the Post Office Hub Working Group last year to identify potential models under which the post offices could act as community hubs, especially in rural areas. The Group’s report has been finalised and I submitted it to Government for noting this week.

The Post Office Hub Working Group considered that a Shared Value Post Office model has the most potential to expand the type of services which post offices could offer to customers. The Group’s report recommends that this model be tested through the establishment of pilots in four locations, with a view to rolling the model out to up to 150 locations if proven to be successful.