Post offices should be allowed to offer basic bank accounts and motor tax renewals, a report to be published this week by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Alex White recommends.
Customers should be able to set up full current accounts with An Post and be able to have direct debits and standing orders, in a bid to fill the gap left by banks closing rural branches.
Post offices should be able to sell insurance, process motor tax renewals and handle credit union lodgements and withdrawals, the expert group led by businessman Bobby Kerr proposes.
There is a specific proposal around motor tax, with the report recommending renewal facilities should be available at post offices.
An Post chief executive Donal Connell and Mr Kerr will attend the event in Government Buildings.
Two principal sources of funding for post offices are social welfare contracts and State savings, accounting for some 55 per cent of revenue.
The Post Office Network Business Development Group published its interim report in June. At that time, Mr White said despite the challenges faced by post offices, the number of post office closures had fallen dramatically. There were 24 net closures between 2011 and 2014, compared with 198 between 2007 and 2010.
