Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

It is not proposed to accept this amendment. Section 28 places an emphasis on access being granted following commercial negotiations between a universal postal service provider and another postal service provider. Where an agreement cannot be reached, ComReg may resolve the issue and may impose certain terms and conditions in relation to access. Section 28 sets out ComReg's role in this context and the issues to which it must have regard, including the need to ensure and maintain the efficient provision of the universal service, the reasonableness of the access request and network costs incurred in granting access. It is not appropriate to legislate for where access should be granted and the precise terms under which it is granted. To do so, could potentially be restrictive and it is not possible to predict future work arrangements of postal service providers.