I listened to the opening contributions from the Government Members today and I thought to myself, my God, does the air feel lighter over on that side of the Chamber? The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, somebody who was vociferous in holding previous Governments to account on failures of local amenities, encouraged us in the Opposition to tell people to use their local post office, even encouraging us to use our local post office, and I thought to myself, I do not need to encourage the people of Phibsborough to use their local post office. Every morning, from the early hours, they assemble outside. A collection of the community, people who are going about their day, will assemble at the post office, collect their payments and send their letters, and there is an abiding fear there that vital community resource will be taken away, whether I encourage them to use it or not. The post office service in Ireland is a hub of community. It is the same in Drumcondra, where an elderly population assembles at the parcel station every morning and the first thing they do is meet a friend and engage in communication. Whatever business they have to do after 10 a.m. starts before that. It is a vital hub. The fear and anxiety that that resource might be gone is palpable. What we actually need, rather than a patronising comment from the Government to encourage others to use the post office, is for the Government to take control of an issue such as post office infrastructure in Ireland, listen to the postmasters, who tell us the economic model is no longer viable, and provide incentives and intervention on behalf of the State. In the absence of a service such as the post office, the Government will not have a metric for the loss of a community amenity where people simply gather. It will just be gone, and that amenity will go with it. It will not be calculable in any sort of metric on a spreadsheet. It will be a loss of community. I would encourage that side of the House, the Government, to take a real interest in this, get a grip and, where necessary, provide the legislative changes or resources.

Sentiment score: 0.10