Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

There was quite a substantial debate on this at Committee Stage. As we discussed then, I moved an amendment to extend the designation period for An Post from seven years to 12 years with the Minister now having a consenting role in a decision made by ComReg in the designation process.

I cannot accept Deputy Ó Cuív's proposal to extend further the 12 year period to 20 years and Deputy Martin Ferris's proposal to designate An Post permanently with a monopoly on letter post. As I stated previously, a reliance on legal protections that shield An Post from competition will not ensure it is in a position to face the various challenges that lie ahead, and providing for the continuation of its legal monopoly is expressly prohibited by the directive.

The challenges facing the company include not only the opening of the market, but the much more significant one of electronic substitution and also the ongoing effects of the recession. In light of these significant changes that the sector is rapidly experiencing, it would be inappropriate to designate, that is, to impose obligations on, An Post for any longer period. As Deputy Harrington, who contributed at Committee Stage and who has first-hand experience of the postal system, correctly pointed out on the last occasion, a period beyond 12 years could be onerous on An Post. However, the Bill provides that ComReg may designate a universal postal service provider after an initial 12 years and An Post could, if ComReg so decides, be designated beyond that period.

It seems, in terms of the opinions expressed by the Deputies on the other side, they do not really accept competition. They do not really accept that the State is compelled by the European directive to open the market. As a result, arguments are made such as those we heard from Deputies Fleming and Ó Cuív. Deputy Martin Ferris wants it left as is permanently. Whether one agrees with that, it is not a choice that we have given the European directive. That is simply a fact of the matter.

It is a fact of the matter that is accepted by the Communications Workers' Union as well. I took care to meet the union, formally and informally. I have gone out of my way in the Bill to address key points that it raised, for example, the extension of the universal service obligation, the fact that, legally, it is maintained into the future. I dealt with the downstream access in so far as I require ComReg to take into account the investment to which Deputy Fleming referred in the case of Portlaoise. It has just been accepted in the previous amendment that that is a substantial change in terms of a concern that the union had on behalf of its members.

When I inherited the Bill, it provided for seven years of designation with the universal service obligation. It is now 12 years and ComReg at the end of that period can, if it so deems, continue it for as long as appropriate thereafter. Contrary to allegations of departing from the programme for Government, we did well to negotiate this being accepted elsewhere. The fact that it is now 12 years is a generation in the context of the changes we have seen in An Post.

Some Deputies think that designation confers a monopoly. That is not the case. We have retained the universal service obligation here, which means that if the horrors that Deputy Ó Cuív envisages happen there is a provision for sharing in terms of the other competitors in the marketplace.

I do not argue with Deputy Martin Ferris in seeking to explain the social role of An Post. I accept that. I understand well that there is a social role. I even understand it, I think, better than Deputy Ó Cuív given that I was born there and he was born Dublin 4. I understand it, but at the end of the day I must say it is not the role of the postman to buy the groceries. It is good that in the community the postman services the role he does, but in all fairness to those who are employed in An Post we cannot ask a commercial State company to run itself into the ground when it is competing with unprecedented developments in recent years. It is not this Bill and the opening of the market that is the threat of further decline in An Post, rather it is the question of electronic substitution and the recession.

The decline that An Post is experiencing is not due to lack of investment, as Deputy Fleming correctly stated. I did visit the Portlaoise centre and I agree it is a model of its kind. An Post management is to be commended for the investment it has made in the mail centres, and the workers for the job that they do. I saw it at first hand. That is not the issue.

The issue is that volume of mail is down dramatically. I stated half-jokingly somewhere that the only ones who write letters anymore are TDs. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but the volume is down significantly. Electronic substitution is the norm today and the post office organisation must cope with that situation.

We have gone a long way here to meet the demands. Deputy Ó Cuív stated that his mind boggles at the notion of us allowing competing players into the marketplace in the climate that I have described.

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