Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It would appear, listening to Deputies Fleming and Ó Cuív, that Fianna Fáil has now come out against privatisation. That may be a very good thing but the Deputies are entirely wrong when they ask me to look at the Telecom Éireann experience as being evidence of where competition does not work. It is not competition that has led to the situation we have in telecoms, it is the asset stripping that went on after privatisation, and it was you fellows who did the privatising.

I remember very well former Deputy Mary O'Rourke going up and down O'Connell Street like Molly Malone, selling shares out of a wheelbarrow during the privatisation at that time. The problem was the ensuing rip-off, under successive owners, that led to the strangulation of the broadband roll-out at the time. Competition is not the problem in this regard. The problem, unfortunately, is there has been an 18% drop in the volume of mail since 2008 and a 6% drop thus far this year. This is how serious the situation is and there is no point in reverting to a discussion on opening the market. It is neither my decision nor a decision of this Administration but a European directive. As for Deputy Sean Fleming keeping a straight face while suggesting to me we should be different because we are an island on the periphery of mainland Europe, that kind of talk went out 20 years ago. The Deputy is well aware of the position. Moreover, I am afraid Deputy Ó Cuív is misinformed. Holland does not have a derogation and I am unsure from where he picked up that suggestion because it is not true.

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