The government's being accused of letting rural Ireland 'wither away' following the announcement that 159 post offices are to close.
Finana Fáil's Timmy Dooley says it's unacceptable and will disproportionately affect the elderly and vulnerable within the community.
The biggest number of the closures will be in Co. Galway, then Donegal, Cork and Kerry.
An Post have confirmed that they will be closing three branches in Waterford as a part of their consolidation plans.
They are offices in Kilmeaden, Ballinamult and Lemybrien.
It means that customers will now have to travel a minimum of 8 kilometers to the next nearest branch.
The company says the remaining 960 post offices nationally will benefit from investment and enhanced services and products.
Lemybrien based Councillor Liam Brazil says it's come as a blow to the area. "It's hard to see the services going away from rural communities. We're losing shops, post offices and Garda Stations."
He accused An Post of "pulling a fast one" telling WLR News that they're offering "big money to the Post Masters and it's an offer I suppose they can't refuse".
Details of An Post’s decisions on future local post office services, including Social Welfare payment arrangements, will be posted in each of the listed offices within the next two weeks.
Below is the full list of closing Post Offices, which is also available here.
