Mr. David McRedmond:

No, I do not, but I thank the Deputy for his comments and his support for the network. I certainly do not agree with his reading. The contract is a good contract. I respect that the postmasters' union will have its view of it. There are also many very viable post offices. The key for us is to have a viable network. Populations change, people move and things shift. Things cannot be preserved in aspic; a network has to be developed, moved and changed. We have brought on so many new services. Looking at the agency banking alone, the banks retreated from rural areas and An Post is now effectively the bank. We will do what we can on any other services that we think communities need and which we can offer through the network. I certainly do not accept that characterisation. The network's revenues actually increased last year. The network is doing reasonably, but that is notwithstanding what the postmasters' union has said, which is that there are some who are really under pressure, which is why that funding is important.