Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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75. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way her Department proposes to oversee and monitor the implementation of actions to support the post office network arising out of the report of the post office renewal board and the post office hub working group as outlined in point 20 of the Action Plan for Rural Development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19862/17]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The specific commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Governmentin relation to the Post Office network which were assigned to my Department have now been completed or are significantly advanced.

I recently presented the final report of the Post Office Hub Working Group to the Government. This report examined the potential for Post Offices to act as hubs of economic and social activity, particularly in rural communities, and recommended that a project to test the concept of Shared Value Co-located Post Offices should be piloted, initially at four locations.

There have been a number of developments in relation to the postal services generally since the Programme for a Partnership Governmentwas agreed last May, including the commissioning by An Post of a root and branch review of the company.

Overall responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post, falls under the remit of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and, in light of developments in the sector, it has been agreed that all aspects of the postal services, including the Post Office network, should now be under the remit of the Minister forCommunications, Climate Action and Environment.

It will be a matter for that Minister’s Department to oversee the future direction of An Post and the Post Office Network.