Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann,

acknowledges the:

central role and function of the post office and postal services in the social and economic life of the country;

commitment of the post office, collection and distribution services since the foundation of the State;

ongoing need for the provision of a modern, efficient, reliable and competitive postal service through An Post, in keeping with the demands and requirements of the consumer and deregulation;

potential value of the broadly based network of post offices, sub-post offices and staff; and

need for the necessary legislative or management decisions required to facilitate the provision of modern postal, packaging and transmission service in the future;

calls on the Government to:

address any outstanding labour relations situations within An Post which have caused unease and distrust in the workforce and clarify the circumstances whereby salary or pension payments or increases, due or anticipated, are to be met;

provide for the computerisation, modernisation and upgrading of the entire network of post offices and sub-post offices with a view to providing a reliable, efficient and cost effective next day delivery service throughout the entire country;

recognise the need to address the appalling low level of pay to a substantial number of postmasters who effectively have subsidised the service by providing premises and working at a rate below the minimum wage and in some cases, below the poverty line;

recognise the existence of a public service obligation, notwithstanding deregulation;

facilitate the development and extension of a wide range of compatible services through the post offices; and

encourage all Departments, such as the Department of Social and Family Affairs, to use the services of An Post for payments or other financial transactions or transmissions and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to facilitate the provision of an accurate voters register.

I wish to share time with Deputies Crawford, Naughten, Hogan, Connaughton, Deenihan and Pat Breen.

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