Government Stamp Of Approval For Sinn Féin
A Sinn Féin proposal to rescue An Post has got the stamp of approval from Government.
Delighted is local Sinn Féin TD Kathleen Funchion who has given a thumbs up after Government accepted SF amendments to a Seanad motion on the future of An Post.
Amendments called on Government to introduce a Public Service Obligation (PSO) to secure the post office network and prevent furtherclosures.
“Since 2018, over 200 post offices have closed nationwide. In Kilkenny closures included Glenmore, Kilmoganny and Mullinavat, “ Ms Funchion reminded.
“The postal service has been blighted by closures and hobbled by cutbacks. We need urgent action and significant investment from Government.”
She added that her party fully supported the call of the Irish Postmasters’ Union for a PSO and we had been advocating for this for over a decade.
MORE CLOSURES WITHOUT URGENT ACTION
“Notably, Fianna Fáil also supported a PSO when in Opposition and spoke in favour of it during a Dáil debate on a Sinn Féin motion in 2018.
“However, support for a PSO was conspicuously absent from the Seanad motion brought by FF. It would have been hypocritical to call for a PSO and then drop support for it once in government.
“People who rely on post offices were watching intently to see if they did what they promised and fortunately, FF supported the SF amendments.
“Without support of the PSO, the State faces significant levels of unrestrained closures according to a report by Grant Thornton, commissioned by the Irish Postmasters’ Union.
“Calling on Government is not enough. We need to follow this commitment with action. Without urgent action we’ll see more closures.”
