Mr. Dermot Divilly:

There are a few questions. One has to be absolutely realistic regarding the USO. At present, even if one wished to change it, that is not on the cards. There has been a great deal of discussion on rural-proofing and all of that, but even apart from that I understand exactly the point. The only person some people may see in the day is the postman. That is very important. The only issue I have about that is who pays for it. The cost of the USO last year was €35 million. That is not a lot, out of €1 billion. Maybe I should not be saying that. An Post has never got any subsidy towards it yet it has kept its head above water in providing the service.

Regarding my point on deeper engagement, that has commenced. I have already started talking to the Department and all the various people. It is a question of who pays for it. My job will be to have An Post financially sound and in a good position to pay its own way. That hole will get bigger if I do not do something about it. However, it will be constructive engagement. It will not be through the media but will entail dialogue with the relevant people. There is a good understanding of the issues. People want the five-day week and I will work with them on that to find a solution.

The current account is very important but today anything in financial services is incredibly slow because of regulation. I am not faulting regulation, because I was there through the thick of it - I am approved by the Central Bank and so on - but it takes time, unfortunately. I come from a sector where we want to get everything done tomorrow and we can find that frustrating, but we will get that current account. We are well on the way to it. We are running it in a trial section now in the autumn. Hopefully next year that will be active. Everybody who visits the post office should have an account. That will make a big difference.

If we do not do that, then people who traditionally go to the post office, who tend to be older, will not have a reason to visit us as we cannot sell them something. It is vital that is done. We have to think outside the box. We have the biggest retail network in the country. There has to be value in that.

I am not in here moaning about the challenge. The challenges are real, but every industry is going through challenges and we have to adapt. If there are over 1,100 retail outlets throughout the country, we have to make them work. That is the way I would approach that.

Deputy Stanley's other question related to changes to the company. I used to run the coal business in Ireland and one Minister, Mary Harney, wiped us out. She did the right thing, but it was not very pleasant at the time. I would never allow that to happen again. I would be prepared for that. My motto is that we prepare for the future and adapt. The future is fairly predictable - it is going to decline. Everything tells us that.

Then there is another side of the business that has great potential, that is, the parcels. We all know that retailing is going online. Maybe 10% of the total business is going online. One can see it. It is a very competitive business, as distinct from the letters business. That is key, as far as I am concerned. We have to maintain a bigger share of that market. That is critical because it is our natural heartland and it not anybody else's. I want us to own a large portion of that. It is a critical business. There are many competitors in the business now, but we have to adapt. We have to give a service that is very competitive pricewise, but people also expect if they order today that the item will be delivered tomorrow at a particular time.

There is a lot going on. Most companies in Ireland, whether private, public or banks, face big challenges. They have to get on with it and if they do not, they die. I do not know if that answers all Deputy Stanley's questions.