We welcome additional funding for the post office service. Sinn Féin has committed to major investment in the post office network as part of our alternative budget. Communities across counties Wexford and Wicklow have had to endure many post office closures over recent years, with 11 closing in Wexford in 2018 and five local communities in Wicklow losing their services or seeing them consolidated. Each of those closures represents a major loss of an essential community service. It is a huge blow to rural Ireland. The Government is now providing funding over five years to support the network. That investment is very welcome. However, nowhere in the Bill is there a guarantee that post offices will remain open. I am thinking of towns and villages near me, including Aughrim, Arklow, Avoca, Rathdrum, Carnew, Tinahely and Shillelagh. Post offices provide essential services in those communities, as they do in other places where they exist, such as Ballyfad, Ballycanew, Bunclody, Kilanerin, Kilmuckridge, Courtown, Camolin, Ferns and Gorey. Communities deserve to know whether this funding will simply slow the decline in the network or protect it. Post offices are doing more than ever before. In 2022, they processed 6.5 million everyday banking transactions, with a value of €2.7 billion, for AIB and Bank of Ireland customers. Those transactions generate approximately €3.2 million in commission payments to postmasters. At the same time, bank branches continue to disappear from towns and villages, including many in my local area, thereby making post offices even more important, yet many postmasters tell us their businesses remain financially vulnerable. Despite that, the Government is yet to commit to a structured multi-annual investment that would safeguard the services into the future. We really need assurances that there is a clear plan for sustainable income for postmasters and expanded services. Most important, we need a commitment that the post office services, which are absolutely essential to every local community, will continue.

Sentiment score: 0.21