This afternoon, the Dáil will debate post office closures. Across the country, we see the hollowing-out of our post office network. Government representatives may lament each closure today but the Government has the power to halt and reverse the closure of in-person services.

Take Rathmines, a community in my constituency with a similar population to Drogheda. Having already lost the citizens information centre, now our beloved, iconic 1930s Rathmines post office faces closure, relocation and sale on the private market. This is selling the family silver. The Ministers, Deputies O’Donovan and Chambers, have the power to stop this sale today. We could see our post offices transformed into community hubs for public services like passport and driving licence renewal, keeping people from isolation and bolstering communities.

We are fighting to retain Rathmines post office. We are engaging with An Post, the council, the Rathmines Initiative and others but will those in government ensure that we see the retention of post offices and react to stop their closure?

We are working flat out. We have allocated €15 million to support the post office network. We had allocated funding last year and the year before to maintain the post office network. I cannot get into every specific post office, obviously, but generally speaking we are very supportive of the postmasters. We understand the role that post offices play in communities the length and breadth of the country. An Post is fully conscious of Government's desire in this respect.