Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I declare an interest in that I am a postmaster of a sub-office with An Post, so I am a contractor to the company, albeit at a low level. I welcome the appointment of Mr. Mueller as chairman designate of An Post. He will bring a depth of experience and expertise based on the global brand companies and Irish companies, such as Aer Lingus, Fáilte Ireland and An Post with which he has been associated. Irish people have a great affinity with those companies.

An Post is facing difficult challenges. Historically, revenues would have remained strong but the margins were always very tight and it was always very difficult to derive a profit from increased revenues. There is a challenging market in mail, with e-substitutes and e-mail posing a major difficult for An Post. I do not see any reversal of that trend. The board of An Post will have to address it.

The pension deficit is a significant issue but the company is making progress on it. Based on his business knowledge and experience in global companies and in Aer Lingus and Fáilte Ireland, would Mr. Mueller be prepared to take a hands-on approach to the way in which An Post seeks new opportunities, addresses mail volumes, deals with unions, addresses costs and increases revenues while dealing with the Minister who, on behalf of the State, has a huge say in how the company operates?

Some of An Post's best revenues have come from its subsidiary companies. Would Mr. Mueller be prepared to expand An Post's business ventures to consider and address challenges in e-commerce and electronic communications generally? I note that many of the companies in which Mr. Mueller has worked have been extremely successful and gone from strength to strength. He has played a very strong role in that success. Sabena is the one that sticks out. Can Mr. Mueller provide the committee with a brief description of what happened in Sabena, which I recognise was linked to Swissair, which had government issues? What was Mr. Mueller's involvement in what happened and what lessons can be learned?