Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 7 February 2017

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Amendment Bill 2016: Committee Stage

7:00 pm

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

The purpose of amendment No. 5 provides that there will be a review of terminal dues with particular regard to section 29(1) of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011. The amendment would require ComReg to undertake a review of the charges on An Post for international inbound mail into Ireland. Section 29 provides that terminal dues shall be transparent and non-discriminatory and related to costs. It is felt that this requirement is not being met adequately at present. ComReg reported that €67 million has been lost by An Post on this service over the past five years and has proposed action to address this matter. Addressing this would greatly improve the financial health of An Post and have a favourable impact on its ability to deliver the universal service. There are multiple competitors in this space in terms of how inbound international mail can arrive into Ireland, many of which can bypass the postal service. A review of this would be welcome, would make sense and might put An Post in a more favourable competitive position.

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