Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Oct 2024

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this issue and the Minister for being present to address the matter.

On 27 June, the Minister will recall that I raised during Question Time the issue of publicity post at An Post and the way it was being administered. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle may be aware that there are many zones around the country, but I suspect they were constructed decades ago. They do not make any sense, they are large and arbitrary, they cross county bounds and they cannot be targeted. In June 2021, I communicated with the chief executive of An Post and some of his people and made the point that the zones were archaic and presented great difficulties for business and, indeed, politicians who might want to use the service. I was told at the time that it was one of the features An Post wanted to include in its next service enhancement release. I kept communications up with An Post and it agreed with me, saying that, since technology had improved greatly, it should be able to provide a more targeted service. The responsible director was asked by the chief executive to look into it. Since then, however, nothing has happened.

As I said the last time I was here, they look like they were constructed during the time of the stagecoach. They do not make any sense. The Minister at the time agreed with me and said he had been talking with some of his own people, who were wondering why the boundaries seemed to be so restrictive compared with other boundaries. He said he would ask An Post to look into the matter. I have spoken to businesses since, and they tell me the same thing. They would use the service much more if it could be more targeted. I cannot understand why An Post cannot do this in this age of digitalisation, and have a more targeted and better service, a more user-friendly service and possibly a service that is not as expensive. Does the Minister realise, for instance, that if I want to send leaflets to Youghal, County Cork, for instance, they would also cover half of west County Waterford where I do not want them to go? I would have to pay for those and maybe go to the post office and ask them not to deliver them there. Other people in business have the same problem. The Minister said he hopes it is something that could be amended and developed further. It is a resource and other people are out there now taking the business that An Post should have, delivering these leaflets and other promotional material. Businesses that want to compete are finding it difficult because of this. It is archaic, unworkable, expensive and out of date and is perhaps something on which the Minister has an answer for me this evening. Has he communicated with An Post as he said he would? Has An Post come back to him with an answer? Is it going to enhance the service, as it told me in 2021, improve the service and make it more targeted and user-friendly for businesses and other people? I await the Minister's response.

I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on the matter. I am aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals, in both rural and urban areas. An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially and, as such, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions relating to the size, distribution, and future of the network, are matters for the board and the management of the company and not ones in which either the Minister or Minister of State have a statutory function.

Publicity post is a service offered by An Post for targeted delivery of items such as promotional materials for businesses. As such, the commercial rationale regarding the publicity post services offered by An Post and targeted delivery zones of that service is a matter for the board and management of the company. Officials in the Department have on behalf of me, the Minister, contacted An Post, which has advised that the current operation of targeted delivery zones is as a result of operational considerations. Accordingly, as this is an operational matter for the management and board of the company, the Deputy will appreciate that the Minister cannot intervene in matters which we, as an Oireachtas, have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. An Post has an independent board with a clear mandate.

As Minister for communications, I have responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance oversight of An Post, to ensure the company is compliant with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the governance functions included in the statutory framework underpinning An Post. It has, over the past number of years, been transforming its business by delivering new products and new formats in the way it operates. This includes, among other things, diversifying and growing the financial services products it provides for individuals and small and medium enterprises to include loans, credit cards, more foreign exchange products, local banking in association with the major banks and a full range of State savings products. An Post is providing agency banking services for AIB and Bank of Ireland across its network of post offices.

Our Government objectives for the post office network include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and Government services. The Government agreed that an amount of €10 million per annum will be provided by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications over a three-year fixed term from 2023 to 2025 to support the postmasters, with funding to be dispersed across the post office network. The funding is being paid monthly for each 12-month period. There has been more than €16.2 million claimed by An Post to date for the postmaster network.

The programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial services and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network. The overall €30 million funding being provided to support a sustainable, nationwide post office network is in line with this commitment.

I regret there is not more detail there in terms of the exact operation. I think sometimes it would be no harm for us to get some of the detail of operational considerations even if we skirt the edge of departmental and ministerial agency independence and responsibility. I regret that the only core of that response is that it is operational considerations. I could give various hypotheses as to why that is the case. I have my own experience of dealing with An Post. I remember at the foundation of the Eircode system, which I was involved in, that the An Post route network was like the third secret of Fatima. I presume that is the underpinning of the publicity areas, similar to what underpins the eircode. I do not have more details in this response prepared by the Department, but I would be interested to hear the Deputy's theories as to what the operational considerations might be.

I thank the Minister for his response and his candidness. I think he is getting the same response I got. "None of your business," is what they say, in so many words. They are getting a lot of money. An Post is a great organisation and I agree it is doing great things. It has done great things with e-cards and so on and was marvellous during Covid. This, however, is the one area I think it may not be interested in. It was probably devised during the time of the stagecoaches. If the Minister looks at the maps to see where the areas are, he will see they do not make any sense at all. They are huge, unwieldy areas in some cases. They should be more targeted. What really frustrates me is that An Post told me, in emails I have here from June 2021, that it was going to include a change in the next service enhancement release. I have contacted An Post since, and it did not tell me why it was not going to do it or make the change it said it would. My real interest is that businesses, particularly small businesses, would like to let their customers know what services and products they might want to sell, especially retailers which are under pressure at the moment. They cannot use the service locally because it is so unwieldy, out of date and archaic. An Post has obviously said it is as a result of operational considerations. These operational considerations have not changed in an awful long time. They are still the same as they were going way back. I am not sure what else we can do here. Maybe some of the board of An Post are listening this evening. Maybe it will be brought to their attention. Maybe they will bring it up at the next board meeting and ask the chief executive why he has not made the changes he told me he would in 2021. It would be a positive if they did and there is no reason why they should not do it. Maybe an Oireachtas committee can invite them in to ask why they will not do this. An Post is getting a lot of money from the State and should have given the Minister more information than he was able to tell the House this evening but it has not done so. Operational considerations could mean anything. I will not speculate as to what they could mean except to say that perhaps An Post just cannot be bothered.

I am frightened that I might intervene in matters which we, as an Oireachtas, have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. Risking that, I might well approach the chief executive. I, too, would be interested. It is a really good company that is trusted and well managed and deals with a large volume of transactions across the State. The underlying reality, however, is that the mail system is declining. Private letters are a thing of an 18th century novel. The core business mail, which was still maintaining a lot of the service, is also probably due to contract as people switch online. You would have thought, and I would be of the view, that publicity mail is one of the areas where you could run against that trend. I do not disagree with what the Deputy said at the start, that we as politicians have to be careful as we avail of the service. That gives us a real expertise and knowledge in the area. We can tell the merits and demerits of various distribution systems, unlike anyone else, because that is part of our business and An Post needs new business. I think a lot of it will come in digital technology services. The trusted characteristics of the company may be useful in a world where trust in digital companies is on the wane. As Deputy Stanton has said, An Post has been there since the stagecoach. That might give them a comparative competitive advantage.

In the meantime, there is still a demand and market for that publicity mail. If, as the Deputy says, the routes are designed in a way that does not give the necessary flexibility and targeted precision, I would like to find out why, although I would be nervous about interfering in operational matters. It would be good to hear, and I will try to follow up with the company and feed back to the Deputy any further information I get.

Beidh mé in ann labhairt ar a son go cinnte dearfa.

Evacuations from islands happen all the time. They have always happened. We have improved ferry services, and there are lifeboats on some of the islands. We also have the helicopter rescue service, which is extremely important for the islands. However, the number of evacuations has grown rapidly as mass tourism has come to the islands. This is particularly the case when it comes to bike hire. Islanders will tell you observe that many people who have not cycled for a long time will hire bikes to get around. Unfortunately, a fair number of them come off and need to be taken off the island by boat, by helicopter or, in some cases, by plane to the mainland for treatment. The problem is that very few people are involved in accidents near the airstrip or the pier. This is also the case for those who get sick at home. All of these people have to be transported to the airstrip or to the pier. With the exception of Árainn Mhór in Donegal and Inis Mór - or Árainn, as it is more correctly known by locals - in the Aran Islands, there are no ambulances or vehicles for carrying patients on the other islands.

It is interesting that in 2023, the national ambulance service, NAS, received funding under the multi-annual integrated urgent and emergency care delivery process of Saolta, community health organisation, CHO, 1, community healthcare west, public health and the NAS. This was the only route the NAS could identify as being suitable when it came to obtaining funding. However, no funding was received via this route. It is not just the case that money is needed for ambulances; it is also required for the huge amount of work that goes into governance and safety.

Bhí an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus mé ar na hOileáin Árainn le gairid. Bhí otharcharr breá ann. Is é an rud is mó a rachadh i gcion ort ná an traenáil a bhí faighte ag na hoileánaigh. The islanders received training in order that they would be able to handle patients according to the highest standards. This requires investment in the NAS training college and in operations staff who work with the island volunteers. A great deal of training needs to be done. In recent times, a new vehicle was put on Inis Mór, or Árainn, and another on Árainn Mhór in Donegal. This came out of NAS resources. The simple fact is, however that unless more resources are made available, the NAS does not have the resources required to provide an equivalent service on the other inhabited offshore islands that need it.

This problem might be resolved somewhat if matched funding could be obtained from the Department of Rural and Community Development, which has responsibility for the islands. It is my experience that when matched funding is provided, all sorts of other funding becomes available. One way or the other, this is needed. It is only when something goes wrong that people ask why an issue was not attended to a long time previously.

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising the very important issue of ambulance service provision on islands for residents and visitors. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, who, unfortunately, could not be here tonight.

As part of its planning for medical emergencies, the NAS has made significant investment in training and equipment for volunteers on our inhabited islands. Through the NAS community engagement unit, training and support are provided to emergency first responders, EFRs, on the islands, who provide an essential service to their communities. I am informed that five of the six islands located in the south west now have community first responder, CFR, groups. These include members who have been been trained to CFR and EFR levels. Furthermore, automated external defibrillator cabinets have been provided on all inhabited islands with year-round populations through local funding and funding under the NAS out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strategy.

Emergency medical support is provided to the islands by the emergency aeromedical services in the west and the north west and by the publicly funded helicopter emergency medical service in the south west. The Irish Coast Guard, IRCG, search and rescue service also provides essential support to the offshore islands and has made a number of volunteers active on Inis Oírr, Árainn, Inis Mór and Toraigh. These volunteers are available to support emergency responses, including the arrival and the departure of IRCG helicopters.

In the context of land ambulance services on the islands, I am informed that the NAS has supplied ambulances this year to Inis Mór and Árainn Mhór from its existing resources. As regards the other islands, the HSE and the NAS continue to explore ways to enhance services to the communities there. I understand that one issue about supplying ambulances is about making sure there are people on the islands who are trained to deal with the emergencies.

Turning to the service provided by the NAS more generally, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the commitment of the NAS in delivering access to patient care throughout the country. Last year saw record levels of activity, with nearly 400,000 emergency calls received. Activity to date this year is up around 11% on the same period in 2023. Despite this unprecedented increase in patient demand, national ambulance response time performance this year has shown improvement over the same period in 2023. Government investment in the NAS has also improved, with a budget of more than €247 million being provided. This represents an overall increase of 30%, or €60 million, since 2020. This increase in investment increased total NAS staffing at the end of August to 2,363, an overall growth in staff of 273 since 2020. Of these, approximately 2,100 are front-line-facing patient care roles.

The Government has committed to provide a further increase in funding for the NAS in 2025. This will take the form of an additional 13%, or €33 million, and underlines the Government's continuing commitment to building further capacity in the NAS. Some €8 million in new development funding for 2024 will allow for the creation of 180 additional positions, including essential front-line paramedics, to build further capacity in the face of increasing patient demand.

I extend my gratitude to the NAS and its staff across the country for their commitment and dedication to patient care.

One of the great frustrations of being a Member of this House are the padded answers that tell you everything except what you need to know and that address everything except what you addressed. What I wanted to speak about was the urgent need to provide funding to the NAS to enable it to provide ambulance services on offshore islands. This issue has been raised by the doctors who service the islands. In particular, it has been raised with me by the doctor who serves Clare Island, Inis Toirc and Inis Bigil. It has also been raised with me by the doctors on the Aran Islands and those who serve Inisbofin.

The Minister of State did not really provide an answer. Let us take the example of Inisbofin. Thousands of people go there every day during the summer and many hire bicycles. There are those who fall or trip. All sorts of things happen.

When there are large numbers of people in a place like that, things will go wrong, as well as islanders getting sick and having their own mishaps or needing attention.

If a person gets sick a mile or two away, it does not matter how well trained you are, there is no vehicle to transport them anywhere. People are doing things because they have to that are not according to standard. This leaves them in a vulnerable position. There is a full-time doctor on Inis Oírr. The training in question is great for having paramedics and so on. On Inis Oírr, however, a qualified doctor and nurse are on hand. They attend to these patients but they tell me that they have no physical way of transporting a person with broken bones or whatever in a safe way - in the only way we would accept on the mainland - as far as the helicopter, plane or boat service.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me an extra 30 seconds. There were only four real lines in the reply. Everything else was padding. Will the Minister of State indicate if it is intended to ensure that normal high standards will apply on the islands in the context of the evacuation of people from where they fall or where they are as far as the pier or the airfield?

As I understand it, the helicopter service is available. Earlier, I addressed the specific issue of emergency care on the islands and spoke about the significant increases in NAS resourcing in recent years. I also outlined the levels of additional investment in 2025 for the NAS following budget 2025. That is an increase of more than €33 million.

I will now mention the ambitious programme of reform the NAS has embarked upon in recent years to transform from a traditional patient conveyance service to an agile, fit-for-purpose emergency medical service. That is what the emergency services are doing. In order to meet the demands of our growing and ageing population, the NAS has developed a number of initiatives including community paramedics, increased capacity in the national emergency operations centre clinical hub, expansion of community first responder schemes nationally and development of a number of alternative pathways. These pathways, for instance, since October 2020 have treated more than 116,000 patients with 40% of patients not requiring subsequent treatment at hospital emergency departments. The programme of reform has also seen significant rise in Government investment with an increase of €60 million in the annual allocation since 2020. As outlined in budget 2025, there will be further additional funding to allow for expansion of these pathways and other essential initiatives throughout the country. The islands also need people who are trained to deal with and respond to emergencies.