Our post office network is absolutely vital, particularly in rural communities. I come from the constituency of Offaly, a rural county, and the post office network is vital. What we are seeing is that there are not enough incentives for people to take on post offices. I saw that in my own community where a post office was lost because there were not enough incentives for a person to take it on. A person would have to lease a premises and so forth. It is something that certainly works in Ireland. It is certainly something that we need to invest in more. We need incentives and a broader range of services. The services have been very slow to be incorporated into our postal service. If more services were being offered at our post offices, it would increase footfall. If we were to see more incentives, we would see more people willing to take on a post office in a community, to keep it there and open. That is important. The facts I want to point out, and about which I am concerned, are that since 2020, the post office network has absorbed a cost-of-living crisis marked by 15% inflation, a 30% increase in the minimum wage and a sharp decline in transaction-based income. That certainly justifies the need for more incentives. At the same time, post offices remain ineligible for many business supports that are accessible to comparable local enterprises. They are unable to increase their prices due to their contract requirements with An Post, placing them in a uniquely exposed position. Ireland currently invests €11,000 annually per post office, but Belgium invests five times that amount while Italy invests 3.4 times that amount. There is a need for further investment.

Sentiment score: 0.15