Bruton: I can’t save Cork mail centre from closure

The Government is legally prohibited from saving An Post’s Cork mail centre from closure, Communications Minister Richard Bruton has told the Dáil. Mr Bruton was responding to a motion tabled by Cork North Central Solidarity TD Mick Barry which called on the Government to instruct An Post to reverse last week’s decision to close the Little Island mail centre.

Approximately 235 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure. Mr Barry said that Cork is expected to be the fastest growing city in Ireland in the next two decades, with a projected population of up to 360,000 by 2040.

“How much of this was taken into account by An Post before they made this decision, and by your Government, minister, before you decided to back it?” asked Mr Barry. “Your Government has just announced its climate action plan. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions across every Government department.

“How much of that was taken into account, minister, by An Post before they made the decision, and by your Government before you decided to back it?

Do you know that millions of letters that would have been sorted in Cork will now have to be transported by truck to Portlaoise? There will be dozens of extra trucks on those roads. This will have a major environmental impact

Mr Barry said the rollout of rural broadband will add to the growing number of online transactions which in turn will lead to a greater number of parcels to be delivered. Mr Bruton said that while it was true that the parcel market was growing, An Post’s share of the market was in decline, and the company has made strategic decisions to position itself to grow in the future.

“I think under law at some of the things that you are seeking to do here, namely to instruct An Post, is directly contrary to the laws that we have established here. It is not for the minister or for the Government or for the Dáil to instruct An Post,” he said.

“We have set up a way in which our State companies are managed, which gives the minister certain high-level policy decisions, but in terms of commercial management working out of these decisions, that has to be done locally,” said Mr Bruton.

“I accept that this is a disappointing day and there’s no way of glossing it from the point of view of individual workers concerned, but I think An Post are doing this in the best interest of making sure that in the future An Post will be repositioned in a very strategic way to service its customers, making sure that it is delivering the services that a postal communication company needs to deliver,” he said.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he believed the decision to close the Little Island centre was ‘pre-cooked’ and that the Cork economy was better equipped to absorb the job losses.