Ms Carol Bolger:

I thank the Senator. I will go back to what he said about the price increase. I thank everybody for their support on that. That price increase was at a very important time in An Post's history and ensured our viability at the time.

When one considers our balance sheet, as an organisation we have a very low gearing. We do not take State subvention. We have two loans, one from the European Investment Bank and one from the State. The total drawn at the moment is, I believe, €50 million. It must be remembered that our gearing is about 30% as an organisation, which is quite strong. Even though that price increase was critical at the time, viability is something that we are constantly looking at and we are looking out to the future.

The Senator mentioned analysis of our customer profile. An Post is now investing in technology. We have great plans to start to segment and understand our customer base. That is the true way of really understanding what customers need.

The Senator asked what we can do. He asked whether we can do TV licences and INTREO services and the answer is "Yes". We can do everything and we want to provide these services. We are knocking on the Government's door, asking to be given more. If this committee can use its influence in that regard, we would be delighted.