Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I have made a number of concessions to him to put into the Bill where the Minister's express consent is required, for example, if there was any question of ComReg trying to shut down the universal service obligation after seven years. This was the situation in the Bill when I inherited it from Deputy Ó Cuív's party. The Minister can intervene and say "Sorry, we are not wearing that."

The protection of the service is one of the objectives of ComReg under the law. Given that it has been regulated since 2000, why has no decision of ComReg ever been challenged? It has consistently protected the universal service obligation. I am aware of people in An Post who think that the imposition on them to deliver the mail every day to every house in the country as required can be extremely costly and extremely severe, but they do it because ComReg insists they do it. That is the position.

I accept the spirit of the amendments, but it is carefully provided for in the legislation. As Deputy Dowds said, in so far as one can do it in law, it is in law. That will continue and it is not the intention of this Government to privatise the post office. Whatever threat there is to postal services and to future employment in the post offices, it comes from matters other than this Bill, such as the pervasive electronic substitution.

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