I want to talk about the erosion of a community service. I am conscious the Minister of State may be taking this on behalf a different Minister. I have to be honest - the Minister of State is an Independent who is not part of the same party as the Minister with responsibility for the matter and I am not sure what role the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has in relation to the loss of a postal service. I am quite frustrated. Myself and Deputy Hearne are both here at 11.10 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. We equally have families to be home to. I do not think this is an appropriate standard for parliamentary debate. There was no communication with our offices on the change of Ministers. I think it is really disrespectful not only to our role but to the people we represent in our respective constituencies. I want to speak on the loss of a postal service in Drumcondra but I am also speaking about the erosion of community. Community happens in a multitude of different forms. That postal service parcel delivery office on Home Farm Road, off Griffith Avenue, is a place of congregation. It is a place where older residents in particular in an older part of Dublin city actually find their routine. They find their engagement. They go about their business. It is a source of community. We are about to lose a site from a semi-State entity. There will be a big hole in the ground that once was a State service and residents are angry about it. They are not just angry because of the loss of a particular entity; they are angry because of the loss of a service. There has been no consultation. The residents rightfully feel disrespected. Further compounding that disrespect, when we strive to have a parliamentary debate about the loss of service, while I respect the Minister of State's role, I have no concept of what happens after this. He will read from a prepared script, but who will take this back to the Minister with responsibility, who seems to be able to give a soundbite to the media about some ridiculousness every once in a while? However, when we are here to engage on a substantive issue, we have nothing. I genuinely feel disrespected and the communities we represent are equally disrespected.

Sentiment score: -0.08

I will speak to the Minister of State in his own capacity. He is an Independent who represents the constituency of Galway West. When he envisioned himself becoming a Minister of State, did he imagine he would be standing in the Chamber defending the closure of local postal services? I appreciate that my constituency and his are very different, but I imagine some of the community needs are the same. The older population in my community of Drumcondra and Glasnevin rely on their post office. When I am told that An Post is a commercial State entity, what does that actually mean? Some State entities do not need to be run for profit. They could also be run for community gain. What we are losing through this erosion of community infrastructure, not only in Dublin Central and Drumcondra, is that community itself. I ask Deputy Grealish to remember why he became an Independent, chose to get involved in politics and became a Minister of State and to stand up for genuine public services such as the post office. I do not for one second doubt he appreciates the need for this type of infrastructure as much as I do. Now that he is sitting in that chair, I ask him to become a custodian of the issue and stand up for this infrastructure. It does not have to be a massive post office. It can be a small postal collection service with other community infrastructure like childcare facilities or anything. Let us show a bit of innovation rather than selling the service off to a private fund, which will be a loss to the community. I would imagine the Minister of State's belief system would go against that.

Sentiment score: 0.09