Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin probably stands alone in this Chamber in support of the postal workers and the rights and entitlements of people who live in rural communities. It is totally opposed to this Bill.

The object of the Bill is to liberalise the postal services. That means it claims to protect the universal service obligation. That claim is not worth the paper it is written on, nor is the claim that the EU directive will protect the obligation forever. If we need proof of this, we need only look to what is happening in the United Kingdom at present. When similar legislation to give effect to the EU directive was published, assurances were given that six-day deliveries and collections would be copper-fastened. Now that the UK Government is preparing to privatise Royal Mail, it has emerged that the provision of all services will be dependent on profit margins. This will mean that if a postal company can prove that it is losing money, it will be able to downgrade its services and only operate the profitable ones.

Defenders of this Bill claim the universal service obligation is copper-fastened. In fact, section 17 makes it clear that this will be reviewed by ComReg even before the seven-year period for which An Post is designated as universal provider is up. The section also provides for the designation of companies other than An Post as the universal provider but, more important, contains a clause under which the obligation can be removed altogether. There are currently no plans to privatise An Post as a whole but the Bill and the tenor of the EU stance on the liberalisation of postal and other public services will inevitably lead not only to the breaking up of the postal services, but to cherry-picking and the selling off of the most profitable ventures.

That the privatisation of State assets will be part of the IMF-EU bailout for the banks is clear. The Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities, chaired by Mr. Colm McCarthy, who has already made clear his support for privatisation, is due to be presented soon. It would be interesting to see what he recommends and the way in which the Government and its successors act upon the recommendations. The report was supposed to have been published before the end of last year but in reply to a question from me yesterday, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, stated the group is to engage in further consultation before it presents the report. Has the postponement anything to do with the fact that light was shed on the interests of a company chaired by the former Taoiseach in buying Coillte? Mr. McCarthy, in his an bord snip nua report, already recommended that the privatisation of our forestry sector be given consideration so it might have been a bit embarrassing if his report were to repeat that at a time when people had realised the interest of former Taoiseach Deputy Bertie Ahern and his chums in buying up 7% of the State's land.

In another reply, the Minister, Deputy Lenihan, told me that privatisation of State assets has been discussed as part of the bailout and that the Government will consult the Commission on the results of this assessment with a view to setting appropriate targets for the possible privatisation of State-owned assets. He specifically mentioned An Bord Gáis and the ESB.

It is clear, then, that in the current climate we need much firmer guarantees that An Post will not be asset stripped and that the people of this State will not be left with a poorer and more expensive service. It must also be guaranteed that rural communities will not be left in circumstances where postal collection and deliveries do not take place six days per week.

The service provided by the postal service to people in isolated rural areas, particularly those who are most in need, including the elderly, is second to none. The service constitutes a point of social contact for many in rural Ireland. I know postal workers who, in the line of duty, make deliveries to people who are unable to make it to the nearest village or town. They take papers and groceries to those who need them and act as a conduit to the general public. The service will almost certainly be lost with the privatisation of An Post, thereby doing considerable damage to rural Ireland. The damage will add to existing damage to rural Ireland by the Government and its predecessors down through the years.

We need guarantees to protect the tried and tested service. If such guarantees are not built into this Bill by way of amendment, Sinn Féin will vote against it. It will do so to protect the jobs of postal workers and the excellent service that An Post currently provides throughout the State. It will also be opposing it because it does not believe that public companies that have been built over generations should be stripped down, torn apart and sold off to private interests. It certainly does not support the selling off of any State company in order to comply with the terms of the IMF-EU bailout for the failed bankers, speculators and developers, some of whom will no doubt be joining their former Taoiseach in companies ready to move in for the kill if and when the services are sold.

It is clear that this Bill, as it stands, does not serve to protect our postal services. It is also clear that it lays the basis for the breaking up of An Post and the selling off of profitable parts of the company to private companies. Sinn Féin will stand against the content of the Bill and it has tabled amendments thereto. If they are not accepted and implemented to the letter, we will stand against this Bill. We will stand with the workers and those who live in rural Ireland who have no service. We will stand with the postal workers because an inevitable consequence of privatisation, if this Bill is passed, will be that they will lose their jobs. Services that are less profitable or unprofitable will be done away with. This will mean the only interest the private companies will have in any future postal service will be based exclusively on profit for themselves.

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