This is a very important issue for rural Ireland in particular. In October 2024, in my own local village of Kinnitty, which has a few hundred people living there and a thousand-odd people in the parish, news broke that the postmistress, Breda Byrne, was retiring. We had a public meeting to try to see if somebody could take it on. We tried to get a shop to take it on, but there was a very deep wound we could not heal. A scar is going to be there for many years to come and it is leaving a void in local communities that is replicated across the country. We have seen the closure of 50% of post offices since the nineties and a halving of post offices in Offaly. When we compare the national trend versus with what is happening in our county, it is out of sync with the pace of closures in other counties. It creates disruption and a lack of social interaction and cohesion, which is so important in all our communities. It impacts the local GAA club, the pub, the shop - whatever it is - in terms of that activity. I want to see how An Post moves forward, considering the strength it has today. It is a billion-euro business, so it is not all doom and gloom. There are proactive opportunities. It needs to be innovative. It has survived as the fittest in the face of the challenges. When other parcel networks have had to close due to financial challenges, An Post has picked up the slack. There is an element of innovation, but takeovers have also occurred. However, it cannot turn its back on rural Ireland, and there has to be a greater sense of involvement in the cash activity in our local communities. Where the banks have tried to turn their backs on this, we need to give that responsibility or an element of it to An Post. Moreover, from the perspective of our circular economy, the likes of Vinted, online sales and the level of shipping happening now mean there is no reason it should not have an opportunity where there have been closures. Kiosks, depots and transaction portals could be put back in place. I would also like to see a succession training plan for how someone can take up a post office when it is about to close. When will we have a year without the closures of a post office in this country? That should be a firm commitment from An Post.

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