Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2018
42. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on whether it is acceptable that a minimum of 159 post offices will imminently close; and the steps he will take to restore viability to the An Post network. [37875/18]
View answerThe Minister is well aware by now of the decision by An Post to orchestrate the closure of 159 post offices in some of the most marginal and rural parts of the country. I would appreciate it if he could set out his views as to whether this is acceptable.
As Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, I am responsible for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post which is a commercial State body with a mandate to deliver a postal delivery service and a viable post office network. I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both rural and urban areas on services provided by post offices. I am fully committed to ensuring a sustainable post office network is available to all citizens for the medium and long term.
It is widely accepted the post office network has been facing many challenges for some years, with a continuing decline in transaction numbers primarily driven by the move to online payments and online banking, as well as e-substitution. Standing still is not an option for the network. An Post has confirmed that it has implemented 17.5 of the 19 recommendations made in the Kerr report. I acknowledge the significant contributions made by Mr. Bobby Kerr and Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell in helping to address issues surrounding the post office network.
In April this year An Post announced a renewed vision for the post office network, which centres on the availability of new services in a modernised and revitalised network. The announcement was supported by an agreement reached between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU, executive following months of intensive negotiations. It was subsequently endorsed by 80% of IPU members.
In their negotiations with An Post postmasters sought both the modernisation of the network and a voluntary redundancy package for those who wanted to leave the business. It is important that the decision of those who wish to leave the business be respected. These are not decisions that have been taken lightly or without good reason. There are several reasons postmasters across the country are availing of this offer, including age, low population levels, as well as the fact that some postmasters are not even earning the minimum wage as a result of declining transaction levels and mail volumes. An Post advises that where a post office closes, 70% of the business transfers to a neighbouring office. The reality is that by facilitating those who wish to exit the business, neighbouring offices are further supported, thereby ensuring a more sustainable network for the future.
The IPU agreement represents a necessary first step in reinvigorating the national post office network and making it a viable, sustainable, modern and vibrant network for the future, capable of adapting to the changing environment in which it operates by providing a service which meets the needs of communities across the country, particularly in rural areas.
The wholesale closure of post offices across the country is a fundamental attack on rural Ireland and the people who live in it. I recognise that there has been a fall-off in the usage of post offices. Some Ministers, however, are blaming communities because they do not use them. How ridiculous is that? Life has changed and some people make their transactions online. The Minister and the Government need to accept this. However, the fact that fewer people utilise post office services should not be used as a ruse to close them. It effectively says to the elderly and vulnerable that they, as well as their needs and expectations, are not really important and do not matter to the Government. Instead, the Minister is asking them to travel 15 km to join a queue to give their business to somebody else and make it viable. That is not what public service is about. The reality is that the State has a responsibility to provide public services as close as possible to the people who need them - the elderly, the infirm and those with the greatest need in society. It is incumbent on the Government to retain these services in the community. It can be done at reduced cost and by co-locating post office services with existing businesses. That would support them and ensure services would be maintained, particularly the delivery of social welfare payments to the elderly and the most vulnerable at a location close to where they live. The Minister needs to rethink and stop robbing Peter to pay Paul by closing one post office to make another viable. That is making meal of one and fish of the other.
Let me make it crystal clear that my priority throughout all of this process, as I have said in the House before, is to make viable as many post offices as possible. The Deputy knows from the statistics we have given that one of the post offices that will close makes 11 social welfare payments a week. If we are honest about this, we all know examples of where people are bypassing the local post office and going to another one. We also know that young people are not using post offices. That needs to change and the only way it will change is by investing in the post office network. An Post is making an investment of €50 million in the network across the country. That is the equivalent of €45,000 per post office. It is a voluntary package. No one is being forced to go. People have options. They will have the same access to the investment as every other post office if they decide to remain in it. Thanks to the support of colleagues in the House, we probably have the only universal service obligation post office network in the world which is actually expanding its service from a five-day-a-week service to a six-day-a-week parcel service.
The Minister has claimed no one will be forced to go. However, they will be. When a post office closes and the postmaster or postmistress receives his or her rightful payment, the people who availed of their services will be forced to travel a further distance. The Minister gave an example of a post office with only 11 social welfare customers. There are others which make 100 and 200 social welfare payments a week, but the Minister did not refer to them. If the 11 payments were transferred to the local shop, local pub or other retailing business to give the owner of that business a couple of bob, from the experience I have had in talking to them up and down the country, they would do it. The Minister could do that more cheaply by giving the kind of contract that was in existence when a greater number of people used the service. Many of the shops in question would be delighted to have the business for less money. If the Minister removed some of the restrictions, they could handle it through the PostPoint system or a postal agency service. The key is retaining the making of social welfare payments within a village. The Minister knows full well that if that block of payments, whether it be 11 or 100, moves 15 km to the neighbouring village, it will shore up the post office in the neighbouring village, as well as the viability of its shops. However, when that money is taken out of a village when its post office closes, one is also effectively closing the shop. The Minister is buying into the viability model which has An Post working through this initiative. What about the viability of communities?
The Minister should follow what is being done in the UK and elsewhere in western Europe and provide a small amount of subvention to support those businesses in the individual villages that are happy to have the postal service delivered from their premises. They are not going to rob him. They do not want the type of contract that existed in the past. They are happy to provide payments to their community if the Minister is prepared to pay a reasonable amount of money and allow the service to be delivered across the PostPoint service.
An Post is altering its retail network to try to meet the changing needs of communities right across this country and reflect shopping patterns. The Deputy is correct in that there are communities where there are other retailers willing to operate the service and I accept that is an issue. That is the reason An Post has put out a call to those retailers to the effect that it is prepared to engage with them. As I said at a meeting of the Oireachtas committee, it is prepared to engage with them and look at the PostPoint service.
As the Deputy will be aware, the chief executive of An Post has said he is examining the potential of expanding the services that are available through PostPoint. There is also the matter of the smart account that is available through An Post to those individuals. There are a number of opportunities available as well as the potential to have the post office franchise operated from local retailers. An Post is willing to engage with retailers across communities where the postmasters decide to take the package. I actively encourage retailers to engage with An Post in that regard. There is a commitment from An Post that there is an appeals mechanism in place if the retailer is not satisfied with the engagement he or she receives from the company.
