Mr. John Daly:

As I stated, post offices are very busy and postmasters have done very well over the past number of years. In answering a question regarding sustainability of An Post, I indicated that we are taking costs out at all levels in the company, with €100 million in annualised costs taken over the past five years. The one area of cost we have not addressed is what we pay postmasters, and I will not get into negotiations with postmasters in this forum. The rates mentioned are part of the negotiation and will impact on the postmasters' revenue, which has increased very significantly in the past number of years. It is an area of cost among many that we must address.