I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Bill before the House. It is a short amendment to the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983. Its purpose is to enable the payment of the agreed funding from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport's Vote to An Post so that An Post may, in turn, be able to disperse this funding to postmasters across the network. The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure of our country. Members will be aware that under the programme for Government, the Government committed to continuing to provide a nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. I am very happy to have been able to not only secure continued future funding in line with this commitment but provide funding of an enhanced level of €15 million per annum, or a 50% increase on last year, which was approved by the Government in January. While this may appear to be short legislation, it has quite a significant impact and meaning for post offices. The approval provides a clear mandate for this enhanced funding. My Department is working to ensure that the required structures are in place as soon as possible to commence providing the funding. In line with the programme for Government, the funding will support the stability and sustainability of the nationwide network of post offices, protecting and nurturing a commercially focused post office network. It will also support access for citizens to the key social benefits of the post office network and help citizens access services effectively and equitably. The principles under which the funding model will operate include maintaining access to the network across urban and rural Ireland, ensuring that no community is left behind; aligning individual funding with criteria, including the degree of isolation and the sustainability of each post office; ensuring a minimum revenue threshold for post offices; and recognising offices of cultural or geographic significance, such as those on inhabited islands or in Gaeltacht areas. At present, there are 870 active post offices. Many of these offices are operated in the vast majority of instances by independent postmasters, who will directly benefit from this increase in funding. In fact, only circa 40 of the 870 offices nationally are directly operated by An Post, with postmasters operating over 90% of the network. This is a nationwide network of significant scale, providing economic and social benefits to citizens, urban and rural, across the country. The Government recognises that there are challenges for both the network and postal services. This includes uncertainty regarding global trade, a decline in traditional mail volumes and the growth of digitalisation. It is not only nationally but internationally that mail and post office businesses are experiencing long-term structural challenges. Additionally, issues relating to the cost of living, in particular the effects of inflation and higher energy costs, have been felt by many SMEs, including the postmasters, and indeed, current global events continue to cause challenges in this regard. In the face of these challenges, however, we are seeing the post office network adapt and innovate, including seeing new generations of users rediscover the network through services such as Vinted. It is important to remember that this support aims to protect and nurture a sustainable and commercially viable post office network. It also aims to ensure access to important services across the post office network for citizens. Any support must therefore be utilised to allow time and space to enable new commercial initiatives and services to be developed. An Post fully understands the Government's position and that a sustainable, viable and customer-focused post office network is a key strategic priority for the company. An Post has a statutory responsibility for the post office network. Accordingly, it must actively explore opportunities to develop new or enhanced product lines for the network. We want to have a sustainable post office network that is available to all of our citizens, both urban and rural, in the medium and long term. The network is a core strength of An Post and the continued development of the network and its services is a vital component of its sustainability. Part of the strength of the post office brand and one of its selling points is that it reaches all parts of the country. However, we must recognise that post offices are commercial entities and as with any business, they need to continue to develop relevant commercial strategies to attract customers, drive footfall and generate growth. Supported by Government, An Post must ensure its commercial viability and the continued fulfilment of its mandate to provide a mail delivery service and ensure a viable post office network. Decisions relating to the network, including those relating to specific post offices, are operational matters for the board and management of the company and not ones in which I have a function. Further, the terms under which postmasters contract with An Post is a matter between the postmasters and An Post, and any negotiations are a matter for both parties directly. To satisfy state aid requirements, a letter of entrustment for the service of general economic interest will be issued and funding will be paid under a grant agreement with An Post. Previously, funding which ran from 2023 to 2025 for the first time, was also provided to An Post on the basis of services entrusted to An Post, namely, the provision of counter services for the company's own business and Government business, pursuant to the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act. As I have mentioned, the Bill's sole purpose is to provide a statutory basis for funding to be paid from the Department's Vote to An Post, and onwards, subsequent to that, to each post office. The Bill provides for a small technical amendment. The previous Government funding scheme, which provided €10 million per annum between 2023 and 2025, has its statutory basis at section 29A(1) of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which provides that the Minister may provide €30 million to An Post for the purposes of supporting the post office network. That €30 million cap has been reached and, therefore, an amendment is required to raise the level of funding that can be given. Section 1 provides for an uplift in the funding currently allowed under section 29A of the 1983 Act, as amended, by increasing the amount prescribed by a total of €75 million, up to €105 million, in line with the agreed funding commitment by Government. The Bill will be commenced upon enactment. The ongoing global challenges, structural changes in the postal sector and changes in consumer habits provide a dynamic and challenging environment for the post office network and An Post. It is important that we recognise and thank postmasters across the country who are working hard to deliver in this environment, as well as An Post, which is actively seeking out new opportunities to support the network. The Government is demonstrating its commitment to the network and the value it provides to citizens with the allocation of €15 million per annum, which is a 50% increase on last year, and for the term of this Government. However, I encourage all stakeholders to work together and do everything possible to ensure a long-term, sustainable post office network for all of our citizens in order that the post office remains at the heart of our community in future, as it has been throughout the history of the State.

Sentiment score: 0.41

Apologies, it is not at present.

Sentiment score: 0.00

At the outset, I thank everyone across the House for their various contributions to this amendment legislation today, and for the broad support there is through the Houses of the Oireachtas for it to be passed. I thank the Dáil and the Seanad, where it will be later on this week, for their engagement in planning this. It is important that we pass this legislation before the Dáil and the Seanad go into recess so that we are in a position, from a Government point of view, to make the payments to An Post for it to be in a position to make the payments to post offices. An Post has been applying the increased payments to post offices since January this year. For us, it is important now to make sure that we are making the Government payment to it for what it has already paid out in increased payments as well as what is going to be due to post offices before the end of the year. This is a significant increase. It is a 50% increase on what was in place in respect of payments to post offices and postmasters last year. The past three years has been the first time we have seen payment from the Government that is going to post offices to support them in the services they are providing to local communities. Once again, I thank and acknowledge all the postmasters across the country and their staff for the really valuable work they carry out within communities, and for the face-to-face community service they provide, as well as the postal, business and banking services they also provide to that community. The strength of contributions here today and the strength of feeling within communities is very much a reflection of the work our post offices do. Of course, by our post offices, we mean the staff that drive them, the people who open them in the morning, close them in the evening and open them on Saturdays to make sure their communities are well served. As I said, 2025 was the first time the Government introduced a payment to support the work of post offices. For the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, the payment was at a rate of €10 million per year. The legislation in place provided for that €10 million to be paid up to a maximum of €30 million. As the figure of €30 million has been reached and a new and significantly increased payment structure has been agreed with postmasters, we need to amend the legislation to provide for that payment to be made over the next five years at a rate of €15 million per year. This small piece of legislation we are discussing today provides for the Act to be updated to accommodate a payment of €105 million between now and 2030 at a rate of €15 million per year to postmasters. As I said at the outset, we have approximately 870 post offices, 40 of which are run directly by An Post. Therefore, we have approximately 830 post offices run on contract by postmasters. This €15 million is a 50% increase compared with the previous year and it will be paid across the 830 post offices. Those 40 post offices run directly by An Post do not avail of this particular funding. It is only for post offices run on contract by postmasters. Different criteria are used to allocate this funding, which give a stronger weighting to smaller post offices and those in more peripheral areas. However, if we were to take the average of this €15 million funding divided by the 830 post offices, it would be worth €18,000 per year to an individual post office. The different criteria as to how the funding will be distributed and how much each post office will receive were agreed between An Post and the postmasters. A total of 47% of the fund - some €7 million - is allocated on the basis of a community access impact payment. That is based on where the next nearest post office is to the post office receiving the payment. Another 44% of the individual payment to a post office goes towards payment for higher operational costs. There is also a transitional support payment of 8% to make sure that every postmaster is receiving at least a minimum increase from the previous scheme. While the average per post office is €18,000, these criteria will decide how much each post office will actually receive. They were negotiated, discussed in great detail and agreed between the postmasters' union and An Post. What we are doing now in the Dáil is following through on the Government’s commitment to support the post office network through this payment. This significant increase is a reflection of the Government’s commitment to the work that post offices do. There is no doubt that it is needed and necessary to ensure we can maintain our post office network across the country. There is also no doubt that if it were not for the Government introducing this payment over the past three years, we would have seen more post office closures. Making that significant increase now is important to maintain the post office footprint across the country. Our objective is to maintain as strong and widespread a network as possible. We seek to keep the post offices that we have in communities open. That is why we are increasing that fund by 50% this year. A few issues have been raised through the various contributions this evening. In the city of Dublin, there is the issue of the adjustments to the sorting offices, which is an issue of concern in some communities. Indeed, that is something we are seeing happening across the country at the moment. It is important that there is appropriate engagement with local communities by An Post when it is making, proposing and putting forward those steps. There is a significant change to the work An Post is carrying out. We have seen a reduction in postal volumes and the number of letters posted. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in parcel volumes. That brings a significant change to the services and infrastructure An Post needs to be able to deal with that demand. For example, in 2025, parcel volumes increased by 27% compared with 2024. So far this year, An Post has indicated that parcel volumes are almost running 50% higher in the months of January and February compared with the same period in 2025. It is rapidly evolving. It is important that An Post ensures it is at the forefront of that transition in order to be able to provide a good service. It must make sure it has the infrastructure, services and facilities in place to be able to deal with that additional volume. From a Government point of view, we are working with An Post to support it in that transition and make sure it remains as relevant in people’s lives and provides as strong a service as it has done in the past. Deputy Doherty mentioned the issue of the post office in Anagaire. It is our objective to keep as many post offices as we possibly can open. That is why we have introduced in the Dáil this week a 50% increase in the Government’s contribution to support post offices. An Post has also indicated that over the course of the past year, it has seen an increase of approximately 10% in transactions across post offices, which is welcome. We want to see that continue so that more revenue is coming into our post offices. I will engage with the local community in Anagaire and with An Post to ensure that everything can be done to maintain that post office in the local community, as we are doing with the post office network generally. Post offices are so important to the local community. That is the reason we are introducing this 50% increase in the Government’s contribution to post offices and postmasters in the Dáil. It will support them in their work and keep the network as strong as it possibly can be. I thank Deputies across the House for their various contributions and support for this Government action to increase post office funding. I look forward to Committee Stage tomorrow and to taking this Bill through the Seanad so that it will be implemented and in place.

Sentiment score: 0.30