In 2017, McKinsey consultants recommended to An Post the closure of one of its four mail centres, which are located in Dublin, Portlaoise, Athlone and Cork. An Post indicated that the mail centre to be closed would be named in 2019. In the past 24 hours, speculation has grown that An Post is targeting the Cork mail centre for closure. Deputy Bruton is the Minister in charge and presumably he knows what is going on. Can he either confirm or deny the substance of this speculation?

That is not a question on promised legislation.

If the Cork centre is facing closure, will he indicate whether the closure will include both the mail and parcel operations or the mail operation only? There are 200 full-time and 30 part-time workers in the Cork centre and they make a major contribution to the local economy. I ask the Minister to tell the House how many redundancies are being planned in the event of the centre being closed.

I do not know how that is linked to promised legislation or if the Minister is in a position to respond.

As the Deputy knows, An Post has faced a continuous decline in its mail business, which has put the company under significant pressure. As part of a negotiation of new industrial relations approaches, An Post agreed a pay increase with workers but one of the conditions attached was that one of the mail centres would be closed. It is for the board of An Post to decide which of the four centres will be closed and I do not know of any decision taken in that regard.

On a positive note, as a result of the agreement, An Post has been able to significantly expand its parcel business. It has put itself in a much stronger position and is growing rapidly in that new area. It is seeking to diversify away from what is, unfortunately, a business in structural decline. The volume of mail, because of the use of the electronic alternatives-----

The Minister is not going to tell us which centre is closing.

That is a matter for the board of An Post.