Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 21 Jun 2001

Vol. 538 No. 5

Adjournment Debates. - Post Office Closures.

Ms Fitzgerald

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue and thank the Minister for being here to respond.

The issue pertains to the closure and threatened closure of a number of post offices in the Dublin area. I refer particularly to the recent closure of Terenure post office and those on Merrion Street and Baggot Street, as well as the threatened closure of Donnybrook post office. All are in my own constituency but it is reflective of a wider trend. Will the Minister state if there is a plan in place for the future development of these post offices and others throughout the country?

The closure and threatened closure of these post offices in Dublin villages diminishes, yet again, locally based services for people in the areas concerned. The quality of life for local people is adversely affected by closures. It is distressing for many residents to see their local post office closing. This was certainly the case in Terenure where there is a strong feeling that the service should remain available to them. The closure of the post offices means that people have to travel further and further to avail of these basic services in an already gridlocked city.

I understand a number of reports are being considered by the Minister's Department with regard to the future of the post offices, if a report in yesterday's The Irish Times is correct. It said that members of an interdepartmental group assessing funding options for the post office network have opposed payment of a State subsidy. Has any decision been taken in this regard and when will the Department make a decision on the future of post offices?

The Minister made a suggestion in April that Irish banks should get involved in some form of subsidisation of local post offices. This is happening in the UK where an interesting scheme was developed to sustain the future of post office services. A rethink of the kind of services that can be offered by post offices is taking place. Does the Minster have a plan for this to happen here so it will be viable for the post offices to remain open?

The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs would have a view on the matter because they had a contract worth £35 million in 1999, and it is among the largest of An Post's corporate clients.

If a decision on future funding has not been made, when does the Minster expect it? In the absence of such a decision, post offices close down. Judging by what is happening in south-east Dublin, we will see more and more closures. It is essential to decide what action is necessary to prevent this. I understand there are many practical difficulties concerning staffing and premises. However, if there is a viable plan that gives the post offices new tasks, and if the question of subsidy is addressed, a future can be guaranteed for them.

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I thank Deputy Fitzgerald for raising this matter. The present Government policy, and that of the last, was that there should be no post office closures. However, vacancies arise due to death or illness, in which cases An Post advertises the posts twice and actively canvasses for suitable candidates. It is only when a suitable candidate for a vacancy cannot be found, despite advertising, that a post office is closed on a temporary basis, pending an application from such a person.

In February last year, I requested Phil Flynn to carry out a review of the sub-post office network in the context of the Government's explicit commitment to the retention of the rural and urban post office networks. Regional and rural developments are cornerstones of this Government's economic and social development policy.

Mr. Flynn's terms of reference were two-fold: first, to review the financial and business environment of the sub-post office network; second, to examine options and make recommendations on the sustainable development of the rural post office network. The facts in the report, which I sent to each Member, are stark. The company operates a network of offices, some of which are staffed by the company and some sub-contracted. The Flynn report outlines a wide range of scenarios, options and recommendations.

On 4 April, the Government decided to establish an interdepartmental group to provide a blueprint for the future funding of the post office network. The group is comprised of senior officials who are engaged in a consultative process with relevant parties. The group will make recommendations to me arising from their assessment of the Flynn study.

We are now at a crossroads regarding the network of post office counter services and I wish to ensure that I have the best advice available to Government.

With regard to an important matter raised by Deputy Fitzgerald, we noticed in the English papers that the banks had provided to the UK and the post office network a large sum of money, the destination of which was post offices that had undertaken work previously done by banks. Yesterday, an official of the DTI in the UK came to visit the group to outline how that subsidisation came about, how much it was, and how much was given to individual post offices. I am assured the meeting was worthwhile and I hope to gain a more comprehensive account of it.

Throughout the country, banks are pulling out of towns and villages. I am sure they have their commercial reasons for doing so. Increasingly, post offices will take on work done by banks. In that regard, banks have an obligation to pay appropriately for the services the post offices will undertake in turn. It is unfortunate that banks are pulling out and the committee is investigating the matter. I have made my suggestion. When I made that personal suggestion to the committee two months ago, the banks treated it with derision. We now find that the banks in the UK have come to an arrangement similar to what I sketched out. I hope the committee will find fertile ground in the debate it had yesterday with its counterpart from the DTI in the UK and that we will be able to approach the matter in this vein. The committee will report back to Government by the end of July.