James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I believe that post offices could and should have a role to play in the future, including the provision of additional banking services. I remain committed to the future of An Post and post offices. The closure of many post offices over the past number of years has caused real anxiety among people living in the countryside. I am particularly concerned about the lack of joined-up thinking by the previous Government which led to repopulation policies without sufficient regard for essential social infrastructure. If we are to see a balance between rural development and spatial strategies, it makes sense to ensure the post office network plays a role in such initiatives.

There is legitimate concern among postal workers and those in the wider postal services that snail mail is being replaced by electronic mail. This has been current for a number of years and extended roles such as the provision of banking facilities have been proposed for An Post in an attempt to maintain the post office network. However, the State is discriminating against the post office network by encouraging people to seek payment of their pensions and other social provisions into bank accounts. Rather than encouraging this the post office network must be supported and promoted. We must bear in mind that An Post has never been a drain on the taxpayer; it has never required a State bailout or hand out. It is, therefore, important that any legislation does not put undue strain on this valuable public service.

Many suggestions have been put forward, including the development of post offices as information centres and expansion of their commercial role. It is time that such ideas became more than just words and that a concerted effort is made to revitalise the place of the network in our society. In doing so we must keep the essential issue of job retention firmly in sight. We must not overlook the ability of An Post to help itself. Over the years, An Post has shown a remarkable ability to reverse its fortunes. Having made accumulated losses of €67 million between 2001 and 2003 and €43 million in 2003, it had to sell its assets to pay its wage bill. However by 2004, An Post made a profit of more than €11.6 million, increasing again in 2006 to €14.6 million. Such mixed fortunes have driven initiatives which were undertaken in expectation of the changes ahead in 2011 and the concerns generated. Those changes are no longer in the future but are very much the present face of the postal services, with the opening of the market to competition becoming a reality.

The Communication Workers Union, CWU, is concerned that problems will arise that will be difficult to resolve in regard to the construction of a system involving private and public operators while also retaining the current funding method for the services provided by An Post. The postal market is centred around a legal obligation to provide a guaranteed equal access postal service to all citizens. This holds true no matter how accessible their homes are or how frequent their mail service is.

I accept that in some ways any concerns about issues relating to mail may not be unduly pressing. The deregulation of the 50g letter service will not encompass the introduction of competition and, therefore, this Bill should not have an immediate impact on the number of post offices, which is an ever present fear. It is even possible that competition in the future could result in greater efficiency, perhaps even a reduction in the price of a stamp, which is one of the purposes of the Bill. This would be good for the economy and job creation, but it might preclude the subsidisation of uneconomic post offices which are being subsidised by the current postage rate.

However, over the past decade we have seen a significant drop in the number of letters being sent. There is a marked difference in the amount of post coming in the door compared to ten or 12 years ago, with the exception of politicians who receive a large amount of mail because people still use the traditional system to communicate with politicians. The reduction in the volume of post is undoubtedly due to the acceptance of e-mail, of which we also receive many.

Despite the decrease in letter post An Post is seeing a marked growth in parcel mail. It is in this area that I see major growth for An Post. The whole area of online shopping, which is becoming more and more the retail option of choice, will provide added growth incentives for An Post in terms of parcel delivery. If An Post is to expand and prosper it must channel its resources to the opportunities provided by the growth in parcel post. To secure its position in this market, it must be able to provide a service of a level that will give it top position over other current and potential future providers. There is already substantial competition in the market. Nonetheless, An Post is ideally placed to take on the challenge.

With further regard to parcel post, I note that a new section was inserted, section 49, which will enable the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to issue directions on to the interception of postal packets carried by postal service providers to all postal service providers. This power had been previously been confined to packets carried by An Post. The Minister might elaborate on the section.

The issue of privatisation in the future is a real concern with this Bill. We must look to and learn from the situation in England, where privatisation of the Royal Mail has led to services in rural areas being downgraded. We must protect against the option for private companies to cherry pick profitable routes, leaving remote areas out on a limb. The Royal Mail was handicapped by the British Government allowing private companies to obtain what is known as downstream access at a vastly reduced cost.

Irish postal employees will not gain much comfort from the case of their German counterparts, who found their numbers cut to compete with new entrants into the sector and which operated a lower pay structure for the workforce. This is an ever present cause for reasonable worry. In the Netherlands the liberalisation of the postal services resulted in a number of cowboy operators hiring cheap labour to deliver mail, some of which ended up being dumped. I would like the Minister to make a clear statement on this to ensure that such practices do not occur in Ireland.

However, given that the Irish market is small and 40% of the population is rural based and widely dispersed by European standards, the likelihood of a rush by companies anxious to enter the Irish postal market is remote. Taking into consideration the Irish and global economic downturn it can safely be assumed that it will be at least 2012 before any incursion is likely and even then it will be on a limited scale.

On postcodes, which are one of the major components of this Bill, the reality is that they have been under discussion for a long time but have never materialised. This is particularly relevant to all parts of the country in regard to parcel post. Rapid and efficient delivery of parcel post with the minimum number of problems for the delivery service is essential for viability and has to be encouraged. Driving around in the hope of arriving at the right address is futile for everyone. Whether the global positioning system, GPS, is utilised for the new postcodes, care must be taken that whatever choice is made the chosen option will stand the test of time.

I am only too aware that there will be diverse opinions and schools of thought brought to bear on any choice. Now is the time for long-term planning encompassing rapidly changing technological advances, which we want to make sure is ongoing. A balance must be reached on what will suit An Post and the best international practice. Common sense must be brought to bear on this decision and forward planning to encompass future infrastructural changes is paramount.

Given that topography and the face of any mapping area may change but latitude and longitude are constant, GPS may be the best option. The system is also fool-proof. It is of great benefit to the emergency services and is value-free, which is not the case with the current postal service. While I am aware of a certain snob value pertaining to postal addresses, particularly in Dublin, it is time we moved on to more practical considerations. The introduction of a system which is completely free of values would provide greater equity. It would break away from the current situation which makes one area more desirable than another. For this purpose using a GPS based on latitude and longitude would be most effective.

There is a considerable market in downstream services, that is, providers who are licensed to provide postal services in the processing, printing and packing of letters which they then pay An Post to deliver. Every effort must be made to retain these jobs for this country. I am aware, and other speakers have raised the practice, of An Post charging less to overseas providers of the service than it does to native providers. The outcome of this is that batches of letters which originate in Ireland are bulk dispatched overseas to be processed, printed, packed and sent back to be delivered by An Post. This comes about because An Post is offering a cheaper rate to the Royal Mail or the French or Swiss postal services than it offers to Irish providers.

It strikes me as incomprehensible that a semi-State company is allowed to do that. The result of such action is the loss of jobs here. It is also a risk to the environment and is environmentally unsustainable. Given that An Post loses money on these transactions, it is difficult to see the driving motivation and why such a policy is deemed worthwhile. I am totally at a loss to understand why such a measure, which is anti-employment and anti-competitive, is allowed to continue. It makes a mockery of the Bill which is endeavouring to provide for competitiveness in the market. Such a segmentation of the market must be investigated. I hope the Minister will take this on board and do what he can in this regard.

We can be confident that An Post is well able to compete in an open market as it has the network, expertise and experience which no one else has and a long-standing monopoly which should ensure it will be able to outperform any newcomers to the market. There is a real fear of cherry-picking in urban areas such as Athlone in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, but perhaps this is largely unfounded. We do not want a situation where An Post will lose out in densely populated districts to newcomers to the market and be forced into more remote and sparsely populated areas. However, I believe this fear is groundless, given the monopoly of An Post to date and experience of the market. As a commercial State company offering a universal service, it has met all of its costs from its own resources based on the sale of the 55 cent stamp. I do not see why this should change.

I welcome the Bill and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I am confident that the

Minister will iron out any contentious issues in the interests of efficiency for postal users and in order to protect An Post and its workers.

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