Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. Mulvey every success. There are three areas I wish to talk about. We are proud of An Post and the men and women who work there. It has evolved over the years and has become a very professional organisation. We are all proud. An Post has come through difficult times. One area I am interested in relates to borrowing. An Post borrowed €30 million from the Government. It is a unique arrangement that works for everybody. Can any other agency do the same? I do not know what the interest is but it is probably 0%. If An Post pays the money back in time, it is a great arrangement if the Government has funding. I say, "Well done."

When I was growing up, everybody seemed to put their money into prize bonds. I do not have more than €50 worth now. I know somebody who was getting cheques through the door. The prizes have decreased because of interest rates and so on, and that is putting people off taking out bonds. I am not saying a prize bond is a loss earner or anything but that could be an area worth revisiting if people have disposable income to invest and felt they were going to get a dividend in the form of a prize. That could be an area worth paying attention to but Mr. Mulvey probably knows better than I do.

I also raise the TV licence. Does Mr. Mulvey have any views as to the best way for people to pay? Is there a better way than what we have been doing for the past 40 or 50 years? Perhaps I am putting Mr. Mulvey on the spot. I wish him every success. As Deputy Duncan Smith said, An Post has a very good public relations, PR, department. I was on the local radio because there were issues about post offices moving into Sligo, which was agreed 14 years ago. I got an email from a representative of An Post to state that the company was working on it. My correspondent went on to say that they heard my interview on the local radio. An Post is keeping in touch with us and Mr. Mulvey can take that as a compliment.