Two hundred and fifty seven post offices closed over the last ten years. Those were 257 post offices that were in rural and urban communities which have now gone. People know Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were in part responsible for that but I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae’s comments earlier and it is quite something to have sat here before the last election and watched as the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, challenged the Government quite robustly on its failures for rural Ireland day in, day out and week in, week out. Since the election, he has gone over to the other side of the House and sits there as a Minister of State. He praises the Government and praises every Government Minister. He said today that he wanted to praise the Government for "safeguarding post offices". I wonder do the 15 post offices that closed in Kerry and the 257 post offices that closed across the State agree they have been safeguarded. He also talked about the Government being deeply committed to post offices. Again, I wonder do those 257 post offices which closed feel that. The reality is that for far too long the Government has not valued post offices. Where I do agree with the Minister of State is that, of course, we should, and we do, all support our post offices. However, as Deputy McGuinness outlined, most of the closures took place because of the contracts which are in place and the lack of viability. There has been report after report, including one done by a Kerry man, that outline what needs to be done to support rural Ireland and rural post offices and this Government took no notice of what was said at all. I am not going to be two-faced and come in here to say the Government has done a great job when the facts speak for them selves - 257 closures which should be owned by this Government, by the Minister and by each and every member of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the past ten years who have done precious little to save those post offices which have closed. If the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was standing where I am now, which he was, he would be saying exactly the same thing but of course he is whistling a different tune now he is a Minister of State.
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Hear, hear.
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Manners.
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