Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 March 2024
88. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if there are proposals to expand the range of services available through the post office network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11122/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Minister knows, our post office network is a considerable asset for our country and for communities in urban and rural settings. Thankfully, there has in recent years been an extension of some of the services that our post office network can provide, with good services being provided for Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, AIB. It has been suggested that the Government should give detailed consideration to the provision of other government services through the post office network. The Minister might let me know if any such proposals are under consideration at present.
An Post is a commercial State body with a mandate to act commercially. An Post has statutory responsibility for the State's postal service and the post office network. The Government is committed to a sustainable future for An Post and the post office network as they provide a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. The Government recognises the importance of the high-value and high-quality post office network to our citizens throughout the country as well as the central and trusted role of postmasters in our communities. My Department is providing funding of €10 million per annum from within its existing capital provision over a three-year fixed term, from 2023 to 2025, to An Post to support a sustainable, nationwide post office network in line with the commitment in the programme for Government. The funding provides time and space for An Post to accelerate the transformation and commercialisation of the network to ensure a relevant and commercially viable network delivering more services to citizens and small businesses.
An Post, including through the post office network, provides important services to its customers and is contracted to provide key government services to citizens. These include banking services, social welfare and State savings as well as SME services and support. Decisions relating to the network, including actively seeking new business and exploring opportunities to develop new or enhanced product lines, are operational matters for the board and management of the company and not matters in which I have an immediate function. Clearly, we have a keen interest and are working closely with the company to ensure it has a viable and diverse business into the future.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has been engaging with the Irish Postmasters' Union. I have been told that by the personnel of the union and I know they appreciate that. There is one issue that should be addressed. Post offices are, in reality, small businesses. They, like every other enterprise in the country, have faced increased costs in recent years. Worthwhile and necessary initiatives were undertaken by the Government to assist small businesses and households with cost-of-living pressures and I would sincerely hope the post office network would be included in any such measures.
I mentioned AIB and Bank of Ireland. Substantial banking facilities are available for those banks through the post office network. In my region of the country, we lost Ulster Bank, which had a huge presence in our area over many decades. Its withdrawal was a considerable loss to many of the communities I have the privilege of representing. Thankfully, Permanent TSB took up some of those particular offices and branches and nowadays has a good network. I understand that, at present, Permanent TSB banking services are not available through the post office network. Perhaps the Minister's Department could engage with Permanent TSB to see if it could use the post office network in towns where it does not have a presence. We have otherwise only AIB and the Bank of Ireland. I am thankful we have Permanent TSB today. I know that, in my county, we welcome its increased presence as a result of the closure of Ulster Bank, whose services our communities had enjoyed for well over a century. Ulster Bank was a considerable loss to our communities. Permanent TSB might be an issue for the Department to consider. I welcome the fact that Permanent TSB has expanded its range of services and its branch network throughout the country.
I absolutely agree with the Deputy. The fundamental strength of An Post is that it is trusted throughout the country, especially through the network. Local postmasters have for generations served their local communities. That trust is enormously beneficial. It is also an organisation which is able and efficient at handling millions of transactions every week. Those include financial transactions and other important business.
The Deputy's suggestion is a good one. Where a community does not have a branch of a local bank, it makes absolute sense that we use the post office to its maximum to provide cash and other financial services. The company has been through difficult times and we have had to support the network with an investment of €10 million over a three-year period. I understand there has been a recent improvement in the performance of the financial services division, which is probably helped by higher interest rates. For all banks, very low interest rates have presented difficulties. I also understand that the terms An Post has with AIB and the Bank of Ireland have improved to recognise the important function the post offices provide.
The Deputy's suggestion is a good one but it is a matter for the company. We do not enter into immediate commercial, contract or other negotiations, but through engagement with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and my engagement with the company, I will happily see the suggestion passed on. However, we must look further. The wider An Post organisation is seeing a continuing 6% reduction in mail volume per annum. That has been a long-term and ongoing trend. Counter to that, there has been a low double-digit increase in parcel revenue and business. As well as looking at financial services, we do, will and should look at other diversification opportunities for An Post and the post office network. It is in a challenging situation and there are no two ways about that. The core business is contracting and some of the social welfare and other provisions are changing as many parts of society move away from a cash-led business. It is a challenging situation for the company but we are determined to support the company and the post office network because they provide an important social and economic role.
The services from the Department of Social Protection that are provided through the post office network must be maintained. If there are changes to the television licence system and the method of supporting public broadcasting in this country or if the current system is continued, it should still be operated through the post office network. If Revenue were to be involved in the collection of charges to fund public service broadcasting, it could be done through the post office network as the collection of the local property tax is done.
I agree with previous speakers. We are so lucky to have our post offices, particularly in rural Ireland, because they play a significant role in that area where people are able to meet and the services and postmasters are excellent. However, we need to make sure we keeping adding on extras, be they banking facilities or something else. I am a firm believer that people should be able to tax their cars there. Local authorities are going online, and while that is fine for some, there are only a few hours a day where people can go into local authorities and tax their car. Do we need to look at putting that in our post offices? The post office can give us a wide range of services. We need to support post offices in rural Ireland and give them every advantage we can to make sure they can provide as many services as we need.
The issue of the television licence will be considered by Government in the wider context. Last year, €131,884,000 was raised through the television licence. It is really important we maintain that. It is very important for public service broadcasting that people pay the licence fee and we support journalism at a time of disinformation and fake news. An Post is the net beneficiary of 7% of the licence fee with regard to collection, with €1.9 million per year going to postmasters. A decision has not been made regarding what the future revenue system for RTÉ and other media organisations will be but the role of An Post will be one of the issues we consider within that.
