Post office network support
Deputy Boyd Barrett warned that local post offices and postmasters were under threat because of weak Government support and outsourcing. The Taoiseach said the sector Minister would urgently consider the postmasters’ report and noted An Post’s strategic plan and prior State support.
The programme for Government includes multiple commitments to sustaining rural life and to strengthening communities and yet, in the past week or so, postmasters have pointed out that An Post's network and many of our local post offices are on the brink of collapse because of a lack of Government support. In my area, two post offices are under threat as a result of the outsourcing model which means that the system depends on people being willing to take up the role of postmaster. There is no commitment to maintain the only publicly owned network to reach into every community, rural and urban. There is no commitment to sustain that network and to run Government business of all sorts through it in order to protect jobs, communities and the vital communication network provided to all communities in which An Post is represented. What does the Taoiseach say to the concerns raised by the postmasters?
Comment on this
My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who has responsibility for the postal sector, has met both An Post management and the Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU, and will consider the content of the IPU's report as matter of urgency. As the Deputy knows, An Post has a strategic plan for the medium and long-term future. This covers the period from 2017 to 2021. In order to implement the plan, the cost of which was estimated at €150 million, the Minister for Finance provided a loan of €30 million to the company in December 2017 to support the renewal of the post office network and the continued fulfilment of a five-day-per-week mail delivery service, the cost of each amounting to €15 million. An Post continues to undergo vital transformation as part of the delivery of its strategic plan which has seen the company split into two distinct business units, An Post mails and parcels and An Post retail. An Post will continue to transform its retail network by delivering new products and new formats, which includes diversifying and growing the range of financial services products it provides to individuals and SMEs to include loans and so on. The investment by An Post of €50 million in the network aims to get communities to use the enhanced services in their local post offices.