James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 2 proposes that section 28 be amended by the substitution of "that postal service provider" for "a universal postal service provider", and substituting section 28(5) for:

Where the Commission is of the opinion that a universal postal service provider is failing, may fail or has failed, to comply with any of the requirements specified in subsection (1), the Commission may give a direction to the universal postal service provider to ensure compliance with the requirement concerned.

The purpose of the proposed changes is to strengthen ComReg's powers to ensure the requirements of section 21 of the 2011 Act are met by An Post. Section 28(1) requires that postal tariffs meet certain standards, including that they be affordable, transparent, non-discriminatory and related to costs. ComReg's powers under section 28(5) need strengthening. The Bill proposes the repeal of the very considerable and specific powers under section 30 of the 2011 Act. This is a corollary to that. Section 30 established the price cap to control postal tariffs where no effective competition exists. While recognising the Minister of State's intention to issue a policy direction at this time, nevertheless it is felt strengthening the statutory position is necessary to ensure at least minimal controls are in place where there is a lack of effective competition.