Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree that as a result of the collapse of the core business of An Post there needs to be an urgency, as Deputy Moynihan puts it, in terms of acquiring new business and diversification and so on. In fairness to An Post, it has been going about its business quietly and in a commercial manner and it continues to do so. For example, there is an arrangement between An Post, One Direct and Aviva, which has seen 23 Aviva insurance branches become One Direct outlets for An Post. This is the type of venture that could be built on because An Post has a unique retail infrastructure.

Deputy Moynihan offered an exhortation to urgency but even if An Post was unsuccessful in all other cases, it has been chasing contracts and opportunities, including motor tax renewals, driving license renewals, HSE patient charges, household charge payments, second home payments, water charge payments, Courts Service fines, the registration and payment for septic tanks, Irish Rail ticket sales and electrical rural production. An Post chases all of this business and it wins more than its fair share. These are the types of contracts that represent the future of part of the business of An Post.

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