The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Archbishop of Cashel have expressed their support for a call by Postmasters’ for the Government to recognise the social value of the Post Office network by introducing a Public Service Obligation (PSO) for some rural Offices. General Secretary or the Irish Post Masters Union John Kane said that while they recognised that not all rural Post Offices were viable as society has become more urbanised, “there needs to be a policy in terms of what the minimum geographic service area should be. Post Offices providing this service, whose income falls below an agreed threshold, should be supported through a PSO approach.”
Archbishop of Cashel & Emly, Dermot Clifford, stated his support for a PSO approach and said that the social contribution of the Post Office to the local community was “priceless and irreplaceable.”
He also appealed for Priests to support local Post Offices.
“In doing so, you will be playing your part to keep these services available to the most vulnerable of your neighbours. Don’t make the Post Office a no-stop shop!"
The local Post Office is a vital link between the citizen and the State and in many places it is the only link left, said Archbishop Clifford. “Every citizen is entitled to have the services of the Post Office available to him or her at a reasonable distance – and a clear national policy on this is urgently needed.
“Currently, villages and towns throughout the country are being repopulated without sufficient regard for social infrastructure. Balanced rural development and good spatial policies need to be devised, with the Post Office network playing an essential part in this development.
Also addressing the conference, the National President of the St. Vincent de Paul, Mairéad Bushnell, said that disadvantaged groups would find their social position worsened if the government fails to ensure adequate access to services in all parts of the country.
“We are extremely concerned about the negative impact of closures on communities, particularly in rural parts of the country, contributing to further social isolation and disadvantage. The service goes well beyond the provision of postal services and helps to sustain a number of key social supports and services for many vulnerable people. The value of this human contact in the lives of many people far outweighs the cost measured on a balance sheet.”
Ms Bushnell pointed out that social welfare recipients who received their payments at the Post Office tended to pay their bills at the same time.
“This acts as an incentive towards good financial management for these recipients. Furthermore, research shows that groups such as the unemployed, young people, Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees can face difficulties in opening a bank account. These groups are social welfare claimants and they are not faced with any difficulties in collecting their welfare through the Post Office.”
The IPU made its call as the Post Office network is in a period of rapid decline. There are now 1200 offices, following 500 closures in the past eight years.
“The fact that Irish Government policy does not have specific minimum requirements in relation to network size and coverage means that closures are taking place on an ‘ad hoc’ basis and not driven by any restructuring plan. This will mean an increasingly uneven spread of Post Office services - with more sparsely populated communities poorly serviced,” said Mr Kane.
Post Offices were in a unique position to continue providing key government and financial services in a community setting, he said.
“Post Offices have the largest network of branches of any financial group with 1200 branches nationwide compared to 900 branches of major banks combined (including AIB, BoI, NIB, TSB and Ulster Bank). Local access to services is particularly relevant for more vulnerable, elderly and isolated members of society. This must be recognised in Government policy.”
The IPU Annual Conference continued yesterday with the launch of a Position Paper on the The Importance of the Social Welfare Contract to the Future of the Post Office Network.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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