Conor D McGuinness: Blasts Government Over Post Office Closures
Conor D McGuinness criticised government handling of post office closures, arguing the network is collapsing and calling for state investment and a public service mandate. He said the current system fails to attract new postmasters, leads to ‘‘closure by stealth’’ and leaves communities without essential services.
Post office closures and community impact
Post offices are described as the heartbeat of communities, providing lifelines for older people, small businesses and families. McGuinness warned that closures have devastating effects on both rural and urban areas and that residents are being left without access to essential financial, social and state services that were previously available through the post office network.
Numbers and local examples cited
He cited figures from the last 10 years, saying 257 post offices have closed in that period and referred to local data showing eight closures in his county of Waterford. He also said there have been 15 closures in County Kerry in the last decade, 14 rural and one urban, and recounted the recent loss of the last public-facing state service in a Gaeltacht community in West Waterford when a long-serving postmistress retired.
Criticism of current arrangements
McGuinness accused the government of a hands-off approach and called the current On Pus system unworkable for recruiting and retaining postmasters. He described the situation as closure by stealth and criticised appeals to nostalgia and suggestions that communities simply need to use their post offices more.
Policy proposals and demands
He urged the introduction of a public service mandate with state investment to modernise contracts, expand services such as banking and digital hubs, and incentivise new postmasters. He said that a modern post office should encourage new entrants and keep them in the role, and that practical action is required rather than rhetoric.
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What planet are you on? Really, Ministers, that's the best you can come up with. The devastating impact of post office closures on all communities, both rural and urban, is leaving residents without access to essential financial, social and state services. Really important social services that should be provided elsewhere but are only available in the post office and from that network. And what we're saying on this side of the House aligns with the long-standing warnings, not just from Sinn Féin but from the Irish Postmasters Union and many other people, about the failure by government, the systemic failure over decades to address the decline of our post office network. 257 post offices have closed over the last 10 years. That's one fortnight for the last decade that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in power. And figures that my colleague David Cullinan received last year, that's eight in my own county of Waterford. It's 15, and Minister Healy Ray might be interested to know that that's 15 in the last 10 years in County Kerry. 14 rural and one urban. The government's hands-off approach is a betrayal of rural Ireland. Post offices are the heartbeat of communities providing lifelines for older people, small businesses and families. Fine Gael and Fine Gael, now backed up by the Healy Ray and Lowry independents, have stood by as that network collapses, refusing to implement solutions put forward by the Irish Postmasters Union, Sinn Féin and others. And it's great to come in here with nostalgia and twee stories and talk about, well, if communities only use their post office more, well, they might be open. But the reality is, it is not viable any longer, under On Pus new contract, for new postmasters to take up the business. It's simply not viable. It is closure by stealth, and it is utterly dishonest to come into this house and to pretend anything otherwise. The current On Pus system fails to attract new postmasters, it fails to keep them in the jobs, and it leads to permanent closures when somebody retires. And we want to introduce a public service mandate with state investment to modernise contracts, expand services like banking and digital hubs, and incentivise new postmasters. And that's what we need. That's what a modern, vibrant, living post office looks like. It's encouraging new entrants in and keeping them there. That's what we need to do in the future, in the future, in the future, in the future. And we're going to do it on postmasters Asa Bust. And we don't have any real things, we don't have any new ones, we don't have any new ones, we don't have any new ones. We don't have any new ones. The last front-facing, public-facing state service in my community, in the Gaelta community in West Waterford, in the future, closed last year, because the postmistress who had given decades of service to the community was retiring, as she is entitled to do. And it did not make financial sense, and I've raised this with government many times last year, it did not make financial sense for anybody to take up that contract. They would have lost money in the bargain. That is the problem. So twee stories and appeals to nostalgia aren't going to cut administrators. We need action, and we need you to wake up and smell the coffee on this issue.
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