Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for sharing time and look forward to speaking on the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010. I was very intrigued by the final part of Deputy Ó Cuív's commentary on whether the alphanumeric part of the code should be in Irish or English. I have not even thought about that but I suggest — perhaps it is the accountant in me coming out — that it be kept strictly numerical. People know the telephone code for their part of the country, whether it is 01 or 057. In my area, 05787 is south Laois and 05786 is north Laois. In Cork, the code is 02, and 06 and 07 are used elsewhere. I will leave aside the mobile phone network. When a numeric code becomes established, as the phone codes have done, in time people get the gist of which code represents what part of the country. I would leave out letters and keep it simple.

I was looking forward to speaking on this legislation prior to the general election being called because I had many reservations about the Bill as originally produced by the previous Government. At the time, I and several other Fianna Fáil backbenchers spoke with the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, about flaws we saw in the legislation and we asked him to take on board our comments on Second and Committee Stages. To be honest, I do not think the man understood the first thing about what we discussed. If there is one good side-effect from the change of government, it is that Eamon Ryan will not pilot this through the House, because he did not understand the rural postal system, about which most of us spoke to him. He was debating rural post offices. His mind was not where the legislation was and that is all I have to say. I am pleased the election intervened and that we will have more time to make an input. I was concerned the legislation was going to be rushed through prior to the election.

At this early stage, I commend some of the proposals made by the Minister. When we were in government, we listened to workers at An Post and members of the Communication Workers Union. The agreement to designate An Post for a 20 year period offers more certainty to An Post as does the provision of Exchequer funding. The possibility of ministerial approval for ComReg to designate a universal service charge is to be welcomed. I would prefer if the Minister would go further on this but I welcome the direction in which he is going.

There has been much discussion about the role of quangos. ComReg is an independent quango and this is enabling legislation to transfer powers from the Department and the Minister to a new enlarged quango, ComReg. Inevitably, when ComReg takes on this area it will require more power, staff, resources, functions, authority and independence. The more we strengthen the role of quangos, the more we take power from those who elect the Government and hand it over to what we call "independent bodies". We will lose democratic control. We do not want political interference in these matters but the idea of the Oireachtas divesting itself of power to give greater powers to either a new quango or to beef up an existing quango needs to be considered because it is not very good. We are passing enabling legislation to give power to ComReg to do whatever it chooses. When dealing with an independent State organisation, one depends on the character, philosophy and ethos of the chief executive. One will be dependent on whether he or she believes in competition.

I am pleased there will be an appeals mechanism against ComReg through the courts. However, this will be very expensive for a new entrant to the field. We must bear in mind that ComReg will be funded by the State and will have limitless resources. Even if a Government body knows it is wrong, it will appeal a case to the highest court so it can state that it did so. This is how the public service works.

It is important that everyone recognises we are discussing the posting of normal envelopes. Parcel post has been dealt with separately and the market is working well. I am concerned about the idea that people will have to pay An Post for the use of its services. It will become like the VHI; we will end up doing to An Post what happened to the VHI, which is a bankrupt organisation which needs subsidies from its competitors. However these subsidies are not enough and it needs further levies from the private insurance market and the Government is examining the situation because it knows it is not tenable.

What is happening to the Royal Mail will also happen to An Post, whereby it is stated this element of competition almost bankrupted it. Under this Bill, An Post will be obliged to provide a daily service and this is very important and we agree with it. However, this is the most expensive part of the system as it involves putting someone in a van to deliver post to 100 houses every day. This is highly expensive and it could cost up to a couple of euro to deliver letters to remote areas. If this legislation is introduced, An Post will be caught with this element as other providers will cherry pick. People argue cherry picking will not happen, but the purpose of the legislation is to allow private competition. If it was not going to be this way the private sector would not seek the business. This will cause a problem for An Post. Where will the private sector intervene in the postal service? It will not want to make local deliveries in rural areas. It will want to sort at national level but bypass An Post's regional mail centres and make the very expensive end of delivery at local level compulsory for An Post. This will cause a big argument about how much the local postman should be paid to make the delivery.

I am very concerned for areas such as Portlaoise which has one of the largest mail centres outside Dublin with approximately 400 staff. Major investment has been made there and it is the most efficient part of the system. However, this will be undermined because the private sector will be able to bypass regional mail centres and local sorting offices and go straight to the postman who will be obliged to deliver the letters regardless of whether An Post thinks a fair price has been paid. This will be decided by the communications regulator. This approach has almost bankrupted the Royal Mail and it is happening here also. There will be cherry picking.

If a cap is placed on the price of a stamp or franked mail, a levy will be introduced and we will be told it is not an increase in the postal price but a levy to pay for the universal delivery charge. It will be like the ESB bill, which shows extra levies and one is told they do not represent an ESB price increase. There was a time when one received an ESB bill with only one price for usage but now it contains approximately six charges which one is told are not ESB charges. However, they are costs to be borne by the individual. What powers will the Minister retain to ensure the universal service delivery will be protected without bankrupting An Post? I advise the members of the Labour Party that this is a significant step on the road to the ultimate privatisation of An Post. People may choose that but, in my view, the mad rush to privatisation of every service in the country is not necessarily the best way. This Bill is a significant step on the road towards privatisation. The parcel service is in the main used by the commercial and retail sectors as most people nowadays receive very few parcels to their homes. However, they need to receive a daily letter post and once this system is undermined, An Post will be in a difficult position, the State will not wish to subvent it and it will end hiving off some of its activities, and this will be another step towards ultimate privatisation.

I am pleased the Minister has said he will table amendments on Committee Stage which can then be teased out. We will be seeking to table some additional amendments. However, I acknowledge that some of the measures he has proposed will be an improvement which we did not get around to before the general election because time did not allow that legislation to be dealt with. It is good we decided to postpone the Bill. The Minister has said the EU deadline has already passed but I do not think a few extra weeks for the passage of the Bill through the House will be a problem. The sky will not fall in. We will want to see the Commissioner for Communications Regulation coming before the committee to discuss some of the regulations he intends making. His perspective is to see the market working and the needs of the customer might come second. He spends his time dealing with the business and commercial market and with those who want to cherry-pick An Post. He will not be meeting the consumers, the users of the service. I suggest ComReg should set up a postal service users' council on the lines of RTE's system for regularly checking with viewers to obtain feedback on programmes. An Post carries out its own surveys and it says that delivery levels are 95% when letters are correctly addressed. In my view, there is a case for a consumer council to provide an informal input. I look forward to discussing this legislation in further detail on Committee Stage.

See this speech in context