I welcome the advancement of this Bill. It aligns with Sinn Féin's policy of supporting the post office network and matches the critical investment of €15 million in funding we pledged in our alternative budget last year. For this reason, Sinn Féin will not be proposing any amendments. It is heartening to see collective agreement that the post office network needs to be supported everywhere, and in particular in rural areas. I will highlight, however, that the Government funding pledge ends in 2030, after which there is no plan. That creates a concern. Sinn Féin has long supported a new public service mandate for our post offices, backed by strategic investment in an expanded range of services and better conditions for postmasters. Our party's 2023 and 2024 alternative budgets set out detailed proposals to safeguard the future of the network and we have continued that in our most recent alternative budget. We did not put a time limit on our support, as the Government has, and I urge it to take a similar long-term approach. Post offices are often the last remaining public service in rural towns and villages across the State. Last year, the Irish Postmasters' Union, in its pre-budget submission, said the funding is not just good value for money but is "essential to sustaining vital public access points in communities across Ireland". Post offices play a proven and irreplaceable role in supporting social cohesion. They serve both rural and urban economies, offering critical services and access for older people, vulnerable citizens and marginalised communities. Despite this, the Government is yet to commit to a structured, multi-annual investment that would safeguard these services for the future. Sinn Féin has made that commitment. As the Minister of State will know, in June last year, the future of the post office network was discussed at the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Culture, Communications and Sport. What we heard form the postmasters was a stark warning to all on how precarious the position of many postmasters, especially in rural post offices, are in. Without this support, postmasters warned us, 40% of post offices would close. With the increase of funding to €15 million, 70% of the postmasters' union members could envisage a viable future. Core products such as mail, Department of Social Protection payments, Billpay and National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, services are all declining and despite the huge reduction in transactions at post offices over the past decade, postmasters are still paid per transaction and are not paid a salary. In 2022, Grant Thornton did a bottom-up analysis of the post office network, which found that the network needed €20 million in funding. The Government would, I believe, need to get EU approval for that. To ensure a viable post office network for generations to come, the Minister of State should look at the possibility of making that a reality. For today, however, we welcome the advancement of the Bill.

Sentiment score: 0.23