Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I welcome that information from the Taoiseach but I am sure he will agree that, to some extent, the damage has been done and we are shutting the door after the horse has bolted in the case of An Post. My question relates to the national centre for partnership and performance. Is there not a problem here in so much as the national centre for partnership and performance seems to concern itself with abstract work organisation issues and abstruse academic questions which are important but that when it comes to providing any hands on support in terms of implementation of these decisions in the workplace, as is so badly needed in An Post, it is not seen to happen? The national implementation body will now find itself seized of a management decision to shut down SDS and it is being asked to unravel that after 63 people have been laid off and the decision has been made.

I understand how there might be problems nowadays with the number of pieces of mail going through the system given electronic mail and so on. However, I find it very difficult to understand how there is a problem of viability with a company dealing with the distribution of packages. One cannot send a package by e-mail yet in my constituency that plant has been shut down because it is, in the belief of the unions, a very valuable site to be sold off. The national implementation body is supposed to wave a magic wand and prevent what ultimately looks like being a total close down of the postal service.

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