Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 May 2004
84 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the names of each post office in each county that has been closed or downgraded in the past five years; his views on these closures and downgrading; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13625/04]
View answerI have been informed by An Post that in the last five years 198 sub-post offices, 62 postal agencies and one branch office have been closed, while 214 sub-post offices have been converted to agencies and five branch offices have been converted to sub-offices.
Given the extent of the information received from An Post, I propose to furnish the Deputy with a separate written list of all such post offices, broken down by county. The Government is committed to a viable and widespread rural post office network. However, consideration must be given to the economic climate in which An Post is operating. The serious operational losses the company has suffered and the measures which need to be implemented if the company is to reverse its situation must also be taken into account. All stakeholders recognise that An Post, and its network, must adapt to its customer needs within the financial constraints in which it now finds itself.
Parallel with these developments, under an agreement between the Irish Postmasters' Union and An Post, the conversion of sub-post offices from a fixed contract to an agency basis, whereby payments are linked to transactions, is being implemented on a voluntary basis. Where vacancies arise in the normal course of events, An Post advertises the post at least twice and actively canvasses for suitable persons to fill the vacant positions. It is only when a suitable candidate for a vacancy cannot be found, or where there are no applicants, that a post office is closed. Such closures are regarded as temporary pending an application from a suitable person.
In order to improve the viability of the post office network, significant extra commercial business has been acquired, including bill pay facilities for the ESB and a contract with the AIB under which the banks' customers can access their accounts through the network. I understand that this new business is contributing to enhancing the sustainability of the network.
