Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2018
622. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on whether many older persons who are not online users and who live in remote areas with poor access to public transport will be discommoded by the closure of the post office in their local area. [37784/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector including the governance of An Post which is a commercial State company 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 and I am fully committed to ensuring that a sustainable post office network is available to all our citizens for the medium and for the long term. While I completely accept that the recent announcement of closures will have an impact on the communities served, it is important to be put the announcement of these closures into context.
It is widely accepted that the post office network has been facing many challenges for some years now with a continuing decline in transaction numbers primarily driven by the move to online payments and online banking, as well as eSubstitution. Less than 2 years ago, I was presented with a future for An Post and the post office network that was uncertain and extremely bleak. The potential for a complete shutdown of postal services with the loss of thousands of jobs was undeniable. Immediate action was needed and since then there has been significant work undertaken to restructure the company.
As part of this process An Post announced, in April this year, a renewed vision for the post office network which centres on the availability of new services in a modernised, 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, and was subsequently endorsed by 80% of IPU members. In its 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. 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 that wish to exit the business, neighbouring offices are further supported thereby ensuring a more sustainable network for the future.
The agreement represents a necessary first step in reinvigorating our 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 that meets the needs of communities across the country, particularly in rural areas.
An Post has done extensive work combining business and demographic data with local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland. An Post is committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all its customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in today’s changing environment.
While Government policy is to offer Government services online, there will always be a segment of the population that is not comfortable or proficient accessing online tools or services. The post office network is the obvious choice as the “offline gateway” for citizens with its nationwide network and existing strong relationship with offline citizens. Government funding of €80,000 has been allocated to roll out a pilot scheme for Digital Assist which will see 10 post offices equipped to help citizens with online Government interactions.
In addition, I have secured Government approval to explore how further services might be made available to our “offline citizens”. This would be delivered via a centralised procurement framework. A Working Group comprising representatives across Government Departments will be established to consider this issue and will report back to Government by the end of year.
