TDs from government and opposition parties have welcomed news that postal services will receive additional funding from the government – but have concerns about poor services across the Southside.
Last week in the Dáil, Minister of State Charlie McConalogue announced that additional funding has been secured for the future of Ireland’s postal services.
Funding for Ireland’s postal services has increased by 50% compared to this time last year; but as the health and education services have proven, merely throwing money at a system isn’t enough to keep it functioning.
In recent months, the Southside People has reported on both government and opposition TDs calling on the government to improve postal services in their immediate areas.
Minister McConalogue stated, “the government recognises that there are challenges for both the network and postal services.”
He said that the government was aware of “uncertainty” regarding global trade, along with a decline in traditional mail volumes.
“It is not only nationally but internationally that mail and post office businesses are experiencing long-term structural challenges,” he said.
“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.”
Under the new government legislation, the Minister for Communications can spend as much as €105 million on Ireland’s postal services within the lifetime of a government.
Dún Laoghaire TD and fellow Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin welcomed the increased investment, but said that issues with postal services remain in his constituency.
Devlin said, “for older people, people with disabilities and people who are not online and never will be, the post office is often the front door to the state.”
“I see this in my constituency of Dún Laoghaire. Our post offices in Dún Laoghaire town, Blackrock, Sallynoggin and Ballybrack, to name but a few, serve some of the oldest populations in the country. When I meet older residents at my clinics, they do not talk about mail volumes or e-substitution. They talk about the counter they trust and the services and individuals they rely on.”
Devlin noted that there is pressure being put on the system; however, those systemic issues need to be addressed, he said.
He pointed to other nations that wound down their postal services, and the negative impact that followed.
“On 30 December last, PostNord delivered its final letter in Denmark, ending four centuries of state letter delivery after letter volumes fell by more than 90%. Other countries are cutting delivery days and closing counters. The UK is also selling off its postal network.”
“While things have to change in order to maintain the network and keep it viable, we are in a different situation from many of our European counterparts and neighbouring jurisdictions. A service that reaches every community of 500 people or more is worth defending, precisely when others are walking away.”
Fellow Fianna Fáil TD Shane Moynihan also invoked the Danish decision to phase out physical letters.
“Denmark recently announced the phasing-out of traditional postal service; the reaction here in Ireland to that announcement underlined the importance of investing in our postal network.”
The Dublin Mid-West TD explained, “for many people who experience loneliness in their lives, going to the post office is one of the few occasions in the week when they will meet someone and enjoy a meaningful conversation and human connection.”
On the opposition benches, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy stated that the current woes afflicting the Irish postal service can be attributed to the government’s profit-first motive.
“There is a fundamental problem with An Post and it is why week after week we hear TDs rightly complain in here about post offices closing, sorting offices moving and the terrible treatment of pensioners in An Post.”
“The fundamental issue at the heart of it all is the so-called commercial mandate for An Post,” he said.
“An Post has to legally behave like a company that is solely focused on profit despite the reality that it is a public and community service and should be seen as such, and that should be its priority. Because it is not, many decisions are taken to the detriment of workers, communities and pensioners.”
The Dublin South-West TD said that his constituents are “up in arms” about the proposed move of a postal hub from Edmonstown to Lucan (as has been previously reported in the Southside People).
“This will be a disaster; it will be a disaster for workers.”
“Workers have told us they live in the area and do not drive a car. They cycle to the sorting office and then do their route, and will not be able to travel from Dublin 16 to Lucan on a daily basis. The new hub is 17 km from the Edmondstown sorting offices and 11 km from the one in Tallaght.”
Murphy said, “for workers who do not drive, that is out. Even if they do drive, their quality of life and life at work will get worse. A large proportion of the working day will be spent sitting on the M50 on the way to and from Lucan, rather than primarily delivering post, talking to people, etc. People will spend hours of their working day in traffic as opposed to delivering post. The impact on residents will be a dramatically worsened service.”
Murphy said the plan was “crazy” and asked the Minister to put himself in Southsider’s shoes.
“Fundamentally, this is a political issue. The Minister of State needs to tell An Post it is not a runner and does not make sense; from the point of view of workers and residents, this proposal, which I believe is about prioritising Amazon over people, needs to be dropped.
Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney said that the current model “undermines” communities right across the country.
“For the older among us, the post office is where people link to their community and each other, particularly when not everyone can make it to the active retirement group or the community centre. Postal services fill a vital gap for those who cannot use, or choose not to use, online services.”
Gibney noted, “we act like paying our bills or doing banking online is everywhere but there are still houses that do not have broadband and many people do not have digital skills or are fearful, and increasingly so, of online scams.”
“Many communities have faced the loss of their post office in recent years, including one near my home in Kilmacud.”
“Those that remain continue to come under increasing pressure. It may not seem like a big deal to some people that instead of walking to the post office, they have to drive or get a bus. For many of my constituents, however, that is a huge barrier to accessing these vital services. The post office is a community service, one that is often accessed by the most vulnerable in our communities.”
“For older people in particular, that journey may be the difference between being able to go and collect their pension independently or being reliant on other people who may then have to assist them with their finances” she explained.