Mattie McGrath urges funding to save rural post offices
Mattie McGrath spoke in the Dáil on 21 Oct 2020 about the crisis facing Ireland's post offices and urged the minister to act on a new report. He argued post offices are vital community hubs, especially during Covid, and said money must be found to support them.
Motion and report urgency
McGrath thanked the Regional Independent Group and Deputy Nocton for tabling the motion and warned that, after years of reports, this latest document may be the "last chance" to act. He said he has raised the plight of post offices annually during his 13 years in office and argued that Covid has created renewed focus and an opportunity to allocate funds.
Post offices as community hubs
He emphasised that post offices serve both urban and rural communities, provide jobs and supports, and act as focal points where staff know and check on local people. He highlighted lifesaving interventions where postmasters or postmistresses have raised alarms when customers were missing.
Local closures and personal examples
McGrath noted a temporary closure in his own constituency at Mullingham Hall and expressed hope it reopens quickly. He paid tribute to postmasters and postmistresses around the country and mentioned a postmistress in Newcastle, who he identified as his sister, as an example of personal commitment to the service.
Concerns over cashless push and government policy
He criticised a perceived push towards a cashless society and government actions encouraging online services, saying such moves risk damaging post offices when different strands of policy are not aligned. He urged the public to shop local and to use post offices more often to help sustain them.
Call for funding and immediate action
McGrath pressed the minister to "grasp this report" and find the necessary funding, arguing that money has been found for other Covid-related measures and should be made available to protect post offices. He framed the issue as vital to rural Ireland and to community cohesion and safety.
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I want to thank the Region Independent Group and Deputy Nocton for putting down this very important motion. Look, we're in here, since I'm here now for 13 years, talking every year about the plight of the post offices. And if we don't, take this report. Many reports have been done over the decades, but this report, I think, is the last chance to do. And we can find money for everything now under Covid. And remember, Covid is putting a renewed focus on the post office. It's the focal point of our communities, both Auburn and Rural. And I want to reiterate that. And I want to salute the post masses and post ministers up and down the country, Auburn and Rural, for what they do. And I know that one of them is temporarily closed in my own constituency, Mullingham Hall, and I hope it gets reopened very shortly. I don't know why it happened with Covid or what it happened only yesterday. But I wish the family well and I wish all the families well and to keep safe. But we have to grasp this report, Minister. You know, there's so much damage being done to rural Ireland with the carbon tax and everything else. This is an opportunity. As I said, you know, the monies seem to be there for everything now. So why can't, what have we got against the post offices that we can't support them? And they're so vital, the jobs, the supports, but above that, they're an integral part of the communities. And when someone is missing this morning in any community, the post-president who knows this is the post-mistress or post-master. And often people have been saved. Unfortunately, often they've been found, not alive, but the alarm was raised by, they know the customers, the customers know them. I'm urging people to use them, I'll use them, because we're not using them. I say that myself, we're not using them enough. And I want to pay tribute to the post-mistress in Newcastle, I don't have to clear an interest, she's a sister, but she gave up her package last year. I kept on to the post office, Catherine McHara, and, you know, to urge people to use it, because there are many ways we could use it more. But the government here are sending out letters, and now, especially with trying to rush to a cashless society, we're damaging the post office as well. We're not thinking, the left hand isn't watching what the right hand is doing, encouraging everything to go online. So I encourage people to shop local this year, go to their post offices, support their post offices, they're not going to call them, and the money must be found to put into them. Now, Pinesham reports, go to my house.
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