Before calling Deputy Nealon I must inquire if the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach will deal with any of the items on the Adjournment Debate?
Adjournment Debate. - Rural Renewal Pilot Scheme.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
Yes, I will deal with the item concerning Geevagh post office.
The rural renewal project was established by the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and is concerned in its general thrust with the depopulation of the west and what can be done about it. The focus of this project is on the public service needs of rural areas and how these can be improved to retain or maintain the present population and perhaps encourage an increase. This is an interesting and worthy project, involving a joint venture between statutory bodies and local communities. That in itself is a new development.
Five areas were chosen to host pilot schemes throughout the country. One of these was in County Sligo in the Lough Arrow area, a major part of which is comparised of the parish of Geevagh. As far as the provision of public services to Geevagh or any other rural parish in the west is concerned, the post office is the essence and central focal point of that service. With the rural renewal project scheme midway through its duration the people of Geevagh discovered that An Post intends to pull the plug on their post office. The town is at the very heart of the area being studied but the people received no formal notice of the closure on the local radio station or a notice through the local press; a small notice was merely placed in the window of the post office.
I am glad the permanent closure of Geevagh post office has been put on hold following vigorous activity by the local community in the form of protests and delegations. The post office services are now being run from a room in the local priest's house. That is somewhat reminiscent of an episode from "Father Ted", but it is good that the permanent closure has been averted for the time being.
The closure of post offices brings much hardship and a loss of identity to a community. However, I do not advocate that argument on this occasion. I am glad the Minister of State with responsibility for the west is present because he initiated the rural renewal pilot programme to study public services, particularly post offices, and encourage the take up of such services and proactive participation by local communities. In the middle of the study, An Post is preparing to close Geevagh post office. The Minister of State is a vigorous man. I ask him to refuse to have his good work and that of the Lough Arrow community enterprise and other pilot schemes throughout the west blown out of the water in this manner. This closure must be reviewed.
The Minister of State is aware that, in the past, An Post gave a commitment not to proceed with its planned mass closure of sub-post offices. However, when a postmaster or mistress retires, the office is often closed down. I discovered this morning that Tourlestrane post office in south County Sligo, which is situated in my native parish, is due to be closed at the end of the month. This post office, like others throughout the west, has always been a central part of the parish and is the precise phenomenon currently being studied under the renewal pilot scheme. It is illogical, wrong and crazy that a State body is involved in an expensive and important scheme to study the role of post offices and how this might be augmented, expanded and embellished while a semi-State body, An Post, begins to close down that which is the essence of the study.
Will the Minister of State ensure there are no further closures in Geevagh, Tourlestrane or any other communities in the west until the findings of the rural renewal pilot scheme study are published. What is the point of engaging in study and developing remedies if post offices are closed down? I have spent much of my working life, as a journalist and Dáil Deputy, seeking to help the west and it is sad that one of the final contributions I am likely to make in this House is concerned with the closure of Tourlestrane post office in my native parish. I appeal to the Minister of State to take action and ensure that my final contribution is not in vain.
I thank Deputy Nealon for having raised this matter. As Minister responsible for western development and rural renewal, I am overseeing a number of initiatives in that area, one of which is the implementation of a pilot programme to actively explore models for a unified, location-based approach to providing public services in rural areas with dispersed or declining populations.
Although decisions regarding the viability of rural post offices are a matter for An Post, I am very concerned at recent developments in regard to the post office at Geevagh, County Sligo, and I met a deputation from the area on Thursday, 27 February to discuss the problem. I made representations to An Post and was informed that that post office will remain open on a restricted service basis in the short-term. It is expected that a full service will be resumed on a temporary contract basis, pending an examination of the case by the Geevagh community.
The pilot programme to which I referred has its origins in report No. 97 of the National Economic and Social Council —"New Approaches to Rural Development". One of the key recommendations of that report was that the practicalities of developing service centres to provide a range of public services should be explored on a pilot basis.
Following a consultative process of seminars and public advertising, involving Government Departments, State agencies, public service providers, local development organisations and voluntary and community groups a number of project proposals were developed for inclusion in the programme. Projects selected had to be clearly needs-based and capable of being sustained over time. In the long-term, projects will be assessed to ascertain whether they can be transferred successfully to other rural communities. A further criterion which had to be satisfied in the case of such projects was that they be based on a partnership between service providers and local communities users.
Local steering committees have been established to run each of the projects, involving the active participation of representatives of local communities and development organisations, in addition to public service providers.
These projects are also being monitored and overseen by a high level steering group comparised of representatives of my Department, the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications and a staff member of the Adult and Community Education Centre, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, who is assisting in the management of the pilot programme in a consultative capacity.
The pilot programme includes a number of innovative projects which will be implemented over a two to three year period: the Sligo rural renewal project in the Lough Arrow and Lough Gara areas; the Feakle and Cranny community service project at two locations in Ballyheigue, County Kerry and Kilmihil, County Clare and, lastly, the Aiséirí — action integrated services project — in Lisacul, County Roscommon and Kilmovee, County Mayo.
Each of those projects is progressing well, with a very positive response by the local communities and service providers. This community involvement, along the lines provided by the pilot programme planners, has been most effective in alerting local communities to the value of their post offices and their proper usage, particularly in the case of Geevagh. Further pilot projects are at present in course of development and I hope to see a couple of additional projects up and running this year.
The Sligo rural renewal project involves a number of State service providers, including the North Western Health Board, Sligo County Council, Sligo Leader, area development management and the Department of Social Welfare. The project is developing a model of public service provision, involving the establishment of local centres in two remote areas of County Sligo, Lough Arrow and Lough Gara. The centres will provide public services, information and assistance through a local facilitator, in partnership with the agencies, and act as a conduit between the local communities and their service providers. The project was established at the end of last year, and this is its first full operational year. I am making a grant of up to £40,000 available towards the cost of the project in 1997.
Of their very nature, pilot projects are experimental. Some may be transferable, while others may survive the period of the pilot phase but, ultimately, not develop into sustainable initiatives for the future. The lessons to be learned from such innovative initiatives will greatly assist in the future development and implementation of policies on public service provision. It is too early in the pilot programme to say what those lessons will be and which model will be sustainable and transferable.
The objective of the programme is to test models for essential service delivery in areas of low and dispersed population which will include an assessment of each project's potential for transference to mainstream service provision. An interim evaluation of the programme will be available later this year in line with the commitment contained in Partnership 2000 in the context of approaches to dealing with rural exclusion.
I acknowledge the compassionate consideration of An Post to appeals such as that made by Deputy Nealon this afternoon, particularly in the lifetime of this Government.