Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I agree with the spirit of the amendments but I am advised by the Parliamentary Counsel that there is no requirement or necessity to put this into primary legislation because the cornerstone of the Bill is the universal service obligation, which is the real tacit recognition of the importance of the role of the postal service. I fully acknowledge the social function of the postal service and agree with it. The postal network is not affected by this Bill.

Deputy Ó Cuív cannot argue that his Government introduced a regulator for the postal service, the electronic communication service or the energy service and then say the Government can overrule those regulators when it feels like it.

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