Ms Carol Bolger:

He did not say he would not increase the price. If we stand back from this, at the end of the day An Post must be a viable business. Like all other businesses, our costs are increasing. Mr. McRedmond referred to transport inflation of 13% and to a 300% increase in the cost of flights. We have to take those costs on board. We do not want to increase our prices and would prefer it if we did not have to do so. However, in order for the business to be viable and for An Post as a company, which is 200 years in existence, to continue for hundreds more years we have to balance the books. Unfortunately, pricing is one of the levers that we have to utilise. That said, if one compares An Post to its peer organisations globally, we are very competitively priced in terms of our fees and charges. We make all of these decisions very carefully and we sense check with the market. To be honest, we feel we give good value.

Mr. McRedmond mentioned the €3.50 handling charge which is to cover the additional costs incurred in handling the problematic parcels. If parcels come in and we cannot deliver them, which is what we are passionate about doing, we have warehousing costs and handling expenses we must meet. He mentioned a figure of €6 million to €8 million for this year for those additional costs. In terms of good governance and good business, we have to accept that price increases are sometimes inevitable. That said, it is not our first port of call. We want to become a much more efficient organisation and one of our strategic objectives is to keep working on our efficiencies.