Mr. Christoph Mueller:

I will deal later with the role of the post office in society, which certainly has been pointed out as being a hub in rural communities. When the entire discussion started in Europe more than a decade ago people anticipated that we would reach a point where a decision would need to be made between the network density, the network depth of postal offices all over Europe and the affordability of the product. I remind the committee that I am the chairman designate of An Post; I have not got my legs entirely under the desk. I have noted the position from the publicly available annual reports.

What An Post has certainly achieved over the past couple of years, despite a serious economic crisis, is keeping the balance between affordability, an appropriate network density and depth, cost position and revenue position. That is a very fine balance. An Post is a 100% State-owned company with a very special mission. Ultimately, its board is responsible to the taxpayer and that is laid out in its code of conduct.

In that role, we have to try to become a fair broker between the interests of the community and society in terms of the importance of post offices, in particular in rural regions, and the necessity to remain competitive. That becomes very clear.

There are different ways to go. It is not only about cost-cutting and closure. The main question is whether an additional product range can be introduced to keep those post offices which, under ceteris pariabus conditions, would face closure. That is basically what other European countries have demonstrated is possible if certain conditions are fulfilled. Most probably that will fuel the discussion in the years to come - that structural change will not end.

Post offices are the oldest companies in European countries. The first postal service was introduced in 1490 between Innsbruck and Brussels. Some post offices are more than 500 years old and they have demonstrated over these five centuries that they are not only capable of adopting modern technology but of surviving structural changes of immense impact. The introduction of ships, railways and aeroplanes has not made post offices redundant. It is with the same mindset that we must enter the next five to ten years to see whether we can add valuable services to An Post's portfolio in order to maintain the network density.