Christy O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)

The Communication Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010 is vital legislation which should be used to improve the postal service for the population as well as allowing greater efficiencies for business. It also has the potential to be of great benefit to the emergency services. However, in achieving these efficiencies, job losses must be minimised and negative repercussions for our rural communities must be avoided.

I have serious concerns about opening the Irish postal services market to free competition. My fear is that it will lead to significant inefficiencies within the postal service and widespread job losses. I am also of the opinion that it will jeopardise the vital services currently provided by the existing postmen and postwomen in rural Ireland who for decades have provided an essential service to rural communities. Our elderly population, especially in rural areas, often rely on the staff of An Post for peace of mind and, at times, they are their only form of communication with the outside world. I doubt that this vital cog in the wheel of rural Ireland will be maintained if we adopt an approach which opens up the market to private operators.

This provision in the Bill will, in my view, lead to widespread job losses throughout the country. We must learn from the experience of our fellow EU members where the opening of the postal market has led to job losses but has failed to have the desired effect of decreasing costs. According to British commentators, the Royal Mail was seriously damaged when private operators were allowed to gain access to the market. In Germany, staff numbers were slashed when liberalisation was introduced. However, the German consumer experienced no drop in prices for the service. Currently, 10,000 jobs are dependent on the postal service in Ireland and we have the eighth lowest price out of 29 European countries for postal services.

I question whether this provision would lead to a more efficient postal service. Currently, An Post operates very efficiently. On the other hand, the quality of service in countries where the service has been liberalised has suffered a decline. The Communication Workers Union has told an Oireachtas committee that liberalisation will not necessarily guarantee an increase in postal volumes or employment, nor will it lead to a decrease in the cost of postage. The universal service obligation, which guarantees five days a week delivery to every address in the country, comes under threat. We must protect this critical element of the Irish market which provides the same service to everyone in the country at the same price. There are significant doubts as to whether there will be any interest from private operators. To date, there has been no contact from any private operator inquiring about the prices which An Post may charge for access to the service.

In my view, the most important aspect of the existing postal service is the contribution to rural communities. The introduction of the provision would have a significantly negative impact in this regard. The postmen and postwomen call regularly to isolated rural homes. This provides an important social outlet for the elderly and provides security and peace of mind for thousands. The liberalisation of the postal service would seriously jeopardise this important social service. It must be remembered that 40% of the population is rural and widely dispersed. The most probable outcome of opening the market would be widespread cherry-picking of the more profitable urban routes, leading to the neglect of rural areas. This is of significant concern to me.

I welcome certain elements of the Bill. The introduction of post codes is long overdue. Ireland is the only OECD country which does not have a national post code system. The introduction will undoubtedly benefit businesses and consumers and emergency services.

We must be prepared to learn lessons from the international experience. We need to examine events in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Ireland cannot afford the inevitable job losses which will occur. We need to support An Post which already offers very competitive prices. Most important, we must maintain the valuable services provided by postmen and postwomen in rural Ireland, as I have outlined.

It seems to me that some of this legislation we have introduced in the past few years has had a very negative impact on rural Ireland. In fact, I would go so far as to say that rural Ireland has taken a bit of a hammering in this respect. We must not isolate these communities further by doing anything that would jeopardise them.

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