I now call Deputy Michael Harty on behalf of the rural Independent group.

I ask the Taoiseach to address the Government's failure to support our post office network. This is a national issue which is of fundamental importance to all small communities across Ireland, both rural and urban, in our small towns and villages. Under the programme for Government, this Administration committed to doing three things to support the local post office network.

First, it committed to the development of a suite of services by the post office network through a hub, whereby Government services would be available to the community at local post offices, meaning that people would not have to log onto websites or wait endlessly on telephones while they try to get answers. Many people have great difficulty doing that. The provision of passports through post offices is a case in point. This is a wonderful opportunity for people to get fundamental services through their post offices. Many other services could be delivered through post offices. All Government applications, including applications for motor tax and driving licences, could be processed through post offices. Foreign exchange is another of the many services that could be decentralised and devolved to enable them to be provided through post offices.

The Government also committed to advancing a community-based banking system through our post offices. We do not have to invent the wheel in this regard. Examples of very successful community-based post offices include Kiwibank in New Zealand and Sparkasse in Germany. Post offices in Japan supply banking services locally.

The third commitment in this area within the programme for Government involves supporting the current contract for social welfare payments. This is absolutely vital for the survival of our post office network. I ask the Taoiseach to tell us what proposals have been advanced in this regard. By failing to support the maintenance and development of our post office network, we are allowing another national asset to disappear. Commercial banks have abandoned our towns and villages. Does the Government intend to abandon our post offices as well? Post offices can flourish and contribute to the social fabric of urban and rural communities if they are allowed to do so. The loss of the sole post office in a local community leads to the ultimate unravelling of the social fabric of such communities. There are villages without a post office, a doctor, a shop, a pub, a school or any commercial or social activity. Such communities are shells of their former selves. Is this the legacy the Government wishes to leave? Rural Ireland wants to move in modern times. It must adapt to modern technology, but that does not mean it should be killed off by new technology. Rural Ireland is looking for innovative support that allows it to contribute to Irish society in an imaginative and cost-effective way. Will the Taoiseach instruct Departments to decentralise services to post office networks and develop a community-based post office bank system to meet the needs of local communities?

Deputy Harty has raised an issue that has gone on for many years. While the post office network has been extensively reduced in the past ten or 15 years, it is still an important entity. An Post is conscious of the impact and the potential loss to many places in rural Ireland of the closure of post offices. Clearly, many of the post office systems in large cities and smaller towns in rural areas have suffered because of changes in communications and the way business is conducted. The previous Government conducted and supervised Bobby Kerr's investigation into the remit, range and potential of post offices. The Government accepted the Kerr report and decided to implement a basic bank account system for post offices. While this would not save post offices or protect their futures, it would be of assistance in that regard. I have to say the Government has always been in favour of the post office system and of attempts to provide new business for post offices, postmasters and postmistresses. It is not that easy in some cases where, for one reason or another, the ability to avail of all the modern methods of communication and technology does not exist.

The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, who is dealing with this matter, has set up a group to look at options that might be available to post offices in the future. This group, which involves postmasters and postmistresses, has met twice and quite a number of extra suggestions beyond the Kerr report have been produced at its meetings. The Minister of State will report its findings as soon as possible. Clearly, the post office network has been an integral part of rural Ireland for many years. I notice that, with the advantage and use of the Internet, post office depots have become receiving places for huge quantities of goods coming in from abroad after being bought online. Many of them no longer deal with the traditional way of business in post offices.

Government is intent on maintaining the post office network, where at all possible. Having said that, I recall one case in the west recently where a post office closed that had been there for 70 years. When An Post inquired in the local area whether anyone else was interested in taking on the facility, there was no positive response from anyone. The situation is changing. We would like to protect, in whatever way we can, the system as it currently stands.

We have had enough reports in this regard. What we really want now is action. If the Government is going to stand aside passively, post offices are going to disappear. We need decisive action and we need the Government to support post offices actively.

The Irish Postmasters' Union projects that in the next five years the income for the average post office will drop by 50%. That will lead to the demise of these post offices. Up to 500 communities are going to lose their post office structure. If the Government does not act, it will passively strangle post offices. Many Deputies on both sides of the House have no wish to see that happen, especially when solutions are available and can be implemented readily. If there is will and imagination, post offices can survive, giving an extraordinary social dividend. The Government must act decisively. Waiting on reports is not going to save our post offices. We need decisive action.

I put it to Deputy Harty that we are not waiting on the report. The report has been done, conducted, published and is being acted upon. One element is the basic bank account, which postmasters and postmistresses have sought for quite some time. Government has also tried to put business the way of post offices. For example, there was the question of driving licences and the question of whether the contributions that were coming in for water could be paid through post offices.

It is not a case of not wanting to help. If we were to define the post office in a rural village in Clare in five years' time, what would it be? Would it be the same size as it is now? What services would it offer? What would be the increased capacity of the postmaster or postmistress to do business? Many maintain we need to surround that country house with other services provided by the State. That is not feasible in many circumstances either. As Deputy Harty is aware, with the change in the way business operates, people can conduct business traditionally done in the post office in other outlets. While we have 1,100 or 1,000 post offices throughout the country, Government is favourably disposed towards keeping business alive. It is a question of what we can do to help them in terms of technology, training, upskilling and new services that can be provided. As Deputy Harty is aware, many of these services have changed radically.

It is not a question of waiting for reports. It is a question of acting on the report we have. I can confirm for Deputy Harty that the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, is very active in this regard.