Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our visitors and thank them for the publication, which is most useful. I have a couple of perspectives. The university constituencies operate on both sides of the Border and I find it is far easier for me to send a message to a constituent in Clones than it is in Newtownbutler. It is only eight or nine miles away but one must remember all the details. There is, therefore, a cost involved in this. I cannot see, as a user of the post office, that there is any benefit, as I gather that the technology can recognise addresses anyway. It can read that it is Clones. Adding seven numbers on to Clones to send a letter under this system accomplishes nothing.

Is it true that even in the UK after 30 years there is only about 80% use of post codes but the machines recognise the rest of the mail and it goes through with no delays? When I read that Ireland is the last country in Europe to do this, it might actually be quite sensible not to implement an unnecessary technology that is about 150 years old, going back to the first post codes in London.

Taking up Deputy Colreavy's point, how much money is involved in this, and is it another Irish Water? The witnesses are major customers and we have heard their points and read their document. Is there any chance of stopping it from a public expenditure point of view? We did ask the former Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte to debate it in the Seanad before he went ahead with it because there was a substantial number of people in the post office who were also against this. Their volumes are declining very rapidly, so if the existing system cannot handle a declining volume of mail and it has the technology to recognise where Clones is, what is the point of this exercise? We are indebted to the witnesses as public-minded citizens coming in and to tell us their views on this, but is there any remaining point in proceeding with this project?

The final issue is that there are civil liberties types who are concerned about this as well. That is another hornets' nest that we do not want to disturb. Is €20 million about to be spent on a project that is not going anywhere?