Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

The Bill's purpose is to open the postal services market to competition. While competition can be of benefit, for example, in the case of airlines, I am not convinced the postal service situation is comparable. I am stating the obvious when I say we have an excellent postal service. It is efficient, regular and reasonably priced. Our prices are the eighth lowest among 29 European countries. I hope the Bill will protect our high levels of service.

I wish to acknowledge another aspect of postal services, namely, the social service that postmen and postwomen provide, particularly in rural areas. It is positive, albeit unfortunate, that a postman or postwoman is often the only source of contact for people in some isolated rural areas. The Minister acknowledged the role of post offices throughout the country and the considerable range of services they provide.

Is it a case of reinventing a system that works? If something is not broken, why are we trying to fix it? Like others, I have been contacted by people who are worried about the Bill's implications. They are concerned that with the opening of the postal market, there may be an erosion of service levels. In Europe, liberalisation has seen social dumping. People are concerned about job losses and that reliable and socially beneficial jobs may be replaced by temporary and poorly paid positions. This type of social dumping cannot be allowed and employment standards must be protected. There are also concerns that An Post's high standards will not be maintained.

One section of the Bill relates to ensuring that postal service users may avail of a universal postal service that meets their reasonable needs but is this not the case under the current system? Will the Bill have positive or negative effects?

I welcome some provisions. For example, the postal service will be free of charge for blind and partially sighted persons and address the needs of specific social groups, in particular disabled postal service users. I welcome the provisions on the quality, regularity and reliability of service standards and the directions regarding corrective action where necessary. I also acknowledge the conditions regarding the withdrawal of service, the code of practice for the handling of users' complaints and the provisions on a price cap.

An Post will be the universal postal service provider for a period of seven years. This will pose it with a challenge and an opportunity. It has been facing other challenges, given the advantages posed by IT and the need to generate new income but I trust its board and management will rise to the challenge and ensure it is the operator of choice in a liberalised market. I hope its board and management will not get caught up in the culture of bonuses and expenses. Workers in post offices and those who deliver the mail have been doing their part efficiently and responsibly. I hope the fears of many workers and their families that this Bill is a threat to the postal service and the 10,000 jobs that depend on it will not be realised in this legislation. I hope the high standards to which we are used, the efficiency and reliability of those working in An Post and a reasonably priced service that covers many needs and the wonderful work being done in post offices will be maintained.

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