Mr. Alex Chisholm:

The actions which we are taking are published as part of our postal strategy. We will continue to update in the months ahead. We believe in transparency and accountability for our actions as public servants. As such, we believe it is important there is clarity around what we have done and will do.

The first action is monitoring compliance of the universal postal service with all obligations under the Act, which relate in the main to tariff requirements, accounting and quality of service and access to infrastructure, including access points. The second action, which took up a great deal of our time earlier in the year, was the setting of the new regulatory framework in terms of the scope of regulation and the precise definitions of what services need to be provided under the universal postal service. This is a key building block for our work, on the back of which we are able to take forward much else of what we are doing.

In October, we consulted on and finalised the procedures for our involvement in any disputes that arise for access by postal service providers to the postal network. We also finalised this postal strategy statement following public consultation. We are grateful for the submissions we received in this regard from a number of interested parties in the industry. Those submissions have also been published. Members may be aware that in October we also published an update on the review of An Post's price application, in respect of which much of the work was done by ComReg, with some work being done by an expert economic agency called Frontier Economics. In the interests of transparency, that report has been published. We expect to receive shortly An Post's finalised application for a price increase. As stated, we will progress this matter as a priority.

We also intend to publish before the end of the year a consultation on An Post's price application for certain of its postal services. Once we have received the fully valid and complete application, we will consult on the matter. We would expect our response to this to be published in the first quarter of 2013. We also hope to approve or amend terms and conditions for the universal postal service subject to receipt of the proposed terms and conditions from An Post. These needed to be varied following the decision we made on the scope of regulation published in July.

In 2013, we will continue to monitor activities on compliance. As I stated, we also hope to publish our response to the price application during the first quarter of 2013. We also have to review all of the postal service providers' codes of practice from the point of view of ensuring they provide proper protections to users, as required by the legislation. We also need to set dispute resolution procedures for postal service users in terms of complaints, compensation and so on. Under the Act, An Post, as the universal service provider, has the right to apply, where it believes it has cause, for funding in this regard. To facilitate this, we propose to publish a draft methodology and to consult on this in the first quarter of 2013. We hope to have this in place in the second quarter of the year. There is also to be a price cap on the universal service provider.

It is a requirement of legislation. It is a complex measure to put in place. It is in the form of allowing for consumer price inflation increases minus X, where X is a factor to do with the provision of suitable efficiency incentives under the Act. We must devise this, calculate it and consult on it. We will do this and put it in place again next year. If a net cost arises and we receive an application for a net cost from An Post we need to determine whether it is an unfair burden and, if so, how it should be shared between potential funders. There are also the surveys which, subject to resource availability, we wish to commission.

Postal services are tremendously important and have a vital economic and social role in the country. We should not lose sight of this even with all the pressures and changes taking place in the wider communications marketplace. The centrepiece of the postal sector is the universal service; therefore, it is also the key to our work. It is just over a year since the introduction of major legislation. We are busy working through and implementing its requirements and we will continue to do so to the best of our ability. We will be guided at all times by the statutory requirements and our desire to ensure postal service providers meet the needs of all users and provide for sufficient value, quality and choice. We welcome any questions committee members may have.