12 Márta 2014, 13:12
The need for an ‘amber alert system’ to publicly warn communities when their local post offices were under threat was highlighted at this morning’s meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. The proposal was originally outlined in the Joint Committee's report on sustaining the post office network, published last year.
12 March 2014
John Daly, Retail Operations Director of An Post, and Liam Sheehan, Director of Sales and Marketing, were before the Committee as part of its on-going consideration of how best to sustain of the Post Office network.
Chairman of the Committee John O’Mahony TD says: “As a Committee, we are committed to providing a space where solutions can be found to safeguard the nation’s post offices. This morning’s meeting was a valuable opportunity to assess the approach of the An Post company. The Committee received a detailed briefing on nature of An Post’s ‘PostPoint’ outlets, which offer a limited suite of services and are usually located in areas of high footfall and longer opening hours such as supermarkets and shopping centres. Bearing in mind that enhanced banking services might be key to securing the country’s post offices, the Committee also heard of the wide-ranging negotiations on such services taking place between the company and a number of the country’s financial institutions”
“A number of Committee Members mentioned that communities often mobilise to protect their local post office when closure is imminent. Bearing in mind that post offices won’t survive if people don’t use them, it was argued that an ‘amber light’ system be put in place to highlight endangered post offices to communities. In response, An Post representatives pointed out that, within the network, larger urban post offices are essentially subsidising their smaller rural counterparts. It was emphasised that communities themselves using the range of services at post offices to the full will have a decisive impact on the sustainability of the network. ”
ENDS
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Committee on Transport and Communications
Deputies: John O’Mahony (Chair), Paudie Coffey (Vice-Chair), Michael Colreavy, Timmy Dooley, Dessie Ellis, Tom Fleming, Brendan Griffin, Noel Harrington, Seán Kenny, Éamonn Maloney, Helen McEntee, Michael Moynihan, Patrick O’Donovan, Ann Phelan and Mick Wallace
Senators: Sean D. Barrett, Terry Brennan, Éamonn Coghlan, Paschal Mooney, Ned O’Sullivan and John Whelan