Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Will the Minister provide the House with the information on the number of An Post pensioners who have died in the past three years since the failure of the An Post company to pay its due cost of living increases? I am led to believe that 74 An Post pensioners died in that period and did not receive their due increases.

The Minister said in his reply that he did not take sides in this dispute but is it not the reality that he did take sides? A few weeks ago he blatantly took sides and tried to portray An Post workers, the postmen and women of this country, as lazy, overpaid, pampered workers who were only doing three or three and a half hours' work a day. Is that not what the Minister said about the postal workers of this country? He blackguarded them in a disgraceful manner and presented them as lazy, unproductive workers when he knew that was not the case. All he had to do was go into his local post office in Navan or Trim to see that was not the case. Instead, the Minister blackguarded the postal workers of this country and made the resolution of this dispute more difficult when he knew the reality that delivering the post day in, day out to 600 or 800 houses is a very tough job. The only other members of a profession who know how tough it is are politicians because we go door to door all the time. The Minister did that only recently with his "Dempsey Delivers" posters, although he has not delivered.

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