POSTMASTERS FROM across County Wexford have expressed concern over the future of their industry in light of proposed changes in how some of the services they provide will be implemented in the future.
The Irish Postmasters’ Union is particularly worried that if direct electronic payments are introduced. It says that if 75 per cent of payments occur through EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) without the involvement of the network 444 post offices will close and that’s even if the remainder of payments continue to be delivered through ‘over-the-counter’ transactions.
The two-year social welfare contract is currently held by An Post with possible extensions for up to four additional years. However the Government is committed to moving to electronic payments as part of its eCommerce strategy and this is causing serious concern to the 1,100 postmasters around the country.
At a meeting in the Horse & Hound last Tuesday night those involved in the sector spoke to The Echo about their concerns and outlined measures they feel would not only ensure the safety of the post office network but would also ensure its viability going forward.
The meeting was organised by local election candidate and People Before Profit member, Seamus O’Brien.
In welcoming those in attendance he said post-offices provide more than just mandatory services and are an invaluable means of support in the fight against rural isolation.
“Austerity cuts have affected people across the board, both urban and rural, and this latest move is another attack on rural communities,” said Mr. O’Brien.
“People need to come together like this and show that you will stand up for your rights,” he added.
“Those involved in post-offices need to pull together on this and force the Government to ensure the future viability of your sector.”
Mr. O’Brien then said that privatisation could not be ruled out: “Privatisation was very much on the agenda of the Troika and we’ve seen that in how the process has already started with Irish Water.”
“Politicians claim they have been affected by cuts but we have to remind them that we will not accept any cuts to rural post-offices,” he added.
Sean Fogarty:
Mr. O’Brien then invited the guest speaker to address the meeting – Sean Fogarty who is a member of the Postmasters’ Union of Ireland’s National Executive.
He highlighted the fact that at grassroots level post-offices provide direct employment in rural areas of the country.
He highlighted the fact that current negotiations involving An Post and Tesco is just the beginning of a process that could see certain services that were traditionally provided by post-offices rolled out to other supermarket chains.
“They are diminishing our jobs and they are doing this behind out backs,” he said.
Mr. Fogarty also said that more-and-more people are being pushed into having payments received through bank accounts as a result of measures implemented by the Department of Social Protection.
However Mr. Fogarty said the IPU is not opposed to new measures being introduced but only if it is a positive step for the sector.
“We would say we will work with this but we want to be part of it [the process],” he said.
“We want to be able to offer people the facility of [using] their card,” he added.
“You should have a choice in where you can collect your money.”
Mr. Fogarty also said the union wants the Government to implement an action plan on the matter to ensure the viability of the post-office network which it promised it would do in its Programme for Government.
He also suggested that services like driving licences and motor tax are things that people should be able to access through their local post-office.
“We are hopefully going to keep out jobs but the Government needs to be on our side,” he said.
(For the full report see this week’s print edition of The Echo)
