Conor D McGuinness: Government 'betrayal' of rural post offices
Conor D McGuinness criticised the Government's handling of the rural post office network and called the hands-off approach a betrayal of rural Ireland. He argued the Unpust contract is not viable for new Postmasters and urged a public service mandate with state investment to modernise contracts, expand services and incentivise new Postmasters.
Main charge
The speaker said the Government's hands-off approach has allowed the post office network to collapse, calling it a betrayal of rural Ireland and describing post offices as the heartbeat and lifelines of communities.
Who is blamed
He named Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, backed by the Healy Ray and Lowry independents, as standing by while closures occur and accused them of refusing to implement solutions proposed by the Irish Postmasters Union, Sinn Féin and others.
Unpust contract criticised
The speech singled out the new Unpust contract as failing to attract or retain new Postmasters, making the business unviable and leading to permanent closures when current postmasters retire. The speaker rejected suggestions that increased local use alone can keep offices open.
Policy proposal
He called for a public service mandate with state investment to modernise contracts, expand services such as banking and digital hubs, and to incentivise new Postmasters to take up and remain in the role.
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The Government's hands-off approach is a betrayal of rural Ireland. Post offices are the heartbeat of communities providing lifelines. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, 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. It's great to come in here with nostalgia and twee stories and talk about if communities only use their post office more, they might be open. But the reality is, it is not viable any longer under Unpust's new contract for new Postmasters to take up the business. The current Unpust system fails to attract new Postmasters, it fails to keep them in the jobs and it leads to permanent closures when somebody retires. 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.
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