I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter, which should have included our colleague, Deputy Paul Murphy, as well. I ought to say that. The four non-officeholders in Dublin South West come together when there is an issue of serious concern to all of us, and this is one such issue of concern. It is to raise the reported proposal by An Post to close the sorting office at Edmondstown in my own parish and relocate its operations to a centralised hub in Grange Castle in Lucan. As the Minister of State knows, the proposal has caused significant concern across a wide area of south Dublin, including Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballycullen, Ballyroan, Ballyboden, Butterfield and those areas. The Edmondstown facility currently provides reliable, accessible and community-focused services. It allows residents to easily collect missed deliveries and engage with a local service that is clearly valued and has employed a lot of local people historically. As was mentioned, the proposed location would require residents to travel across the M50 to Lucan simply to collect a parcel and for many, this is a significant and unreasonable burden. We have been contacted by constituents with no access to private transport or who may have significant needs and are not able to use public transport. Postal workers are also concerned about significantly longer commutes for them. Is the Minister of State aware of the plans? Has any impact assessment been carried out? What engagement has been taking place? Will he intervene to protect local services?

Sentiment score: 0.14

I welcome the fact that the Minister of State will do his best to facilitate engagement directly between An Post and the public representatives who have raised this matter. I also welcome the news about 300 additional postmen and postwomen, some of whom will be employed in the local area. That is really good news. As regards the talk about dispersing what Edmondstown sorting office does to other local post offices, we have lost Templeogue post office and we lost Rathfarnham post office. They were never replaced despite great efforts by local public representatives. As for the last remaining local post office in this area, in Ballyroan, I do not want to comment on it because I do not own or run it, but just from going in and out and engaging, I just wonder about its capacity to store material. I acknowledge that An Post is growing in terms of deliveries, but this is local, it is a service issue, it is about local people and it is about workers now potentially having to engage in much longer commutes and, certainly, older people and people with disabilities having to engage in cruel commutes just to collect parcels.

Sentiment score: 0.38