We are here today to register our strong disapproval of the proposed move of an An Post sorting office from Edmondstown to Lucan across the city. This is an issue of serious concern across parties. As the Minister of State can see, there are three Deputies here from the constituency but I know the two other Deputies will have similar feelings about this. This sorting office serves people in Dublin South-West as well as Dublin Rathdown and there are Deputies and councillors in both constituencies who have serious concerns about this. This sorting office has been a prized local asset for decades. It is an issue as it is a public service in the area. People locally see this as a degradation of services in our area. In practical terms, it would be asking people from Rathfarnham, essentially, and that area to travel across the already congested M50 to pick up parcels in Lucan rather than being able to do it locally. The staff and the local people are really concerned about it. We have heard rumours. We have not heard anything formally from An Post about this yet. The Minister of State has written to me about it and said that this is still a proposal but we would like to get some facts and we would like a meeting with An Post. That is what I am asking for today.

Sentiment score: 0.15

We all want to see a strong An Post, but it is important that I also recognise that it is not an entirely commercial body and that it does have a public service mandate as well. There is a lot of uncertainty around the area, whether it is staff or locals, about the future and we are getting a lot of our information second-hand. We would like to see the plan, to the extent that there is one. There are concerns about what we have heard, that collection points might be in local post offices from now on. They are located in SuperValu stores and so on, but they do not have the same opening hours as the sorting office would have. They would not be open before or after work. We would like an end to the uncertainty and to see the plan. We would like to meet with An Post, if the Minister of State can arrange that, please.

Sentiment score: 0.17