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

I agree with Deputy Moynihan. There is no point in us putting our finger in the dyke. The digital economy is here. The trend towards electronic funds transfer and electronic commerce transactions generally is well under way and if we are to stay competitive, we must ensure we can compete in this space.

We have a unique rate of retail outlets in Ireland in terms of our population. I understand there are still 1,130 offices of An Post throughout the country. It was good that An Post won the social welfare contract last year but undoubtedly it is moving in the direction of going electronic. Therefore, as Deputy Moynihan says, it must bring in new products. It has been developing new products. It has been developing, for example, a relationship with some of the banks that is very productive from the point of view of An Post and the local customer because some of the banks do not want to see anyone presenting at the counter. An Post can do some of that work, and do it usefully.

The new chairman of An Post is a man with many ideas who would agree with the arguments Deputy Moynihan is setting out. Christoph Mueller was a former chief financial officer of Deutsche Post before he took up the job in Aer Lingus, and he has a vision for the future of An Post. The existing management of An Post has done a good job in the new products and services it is offering but Deputy Moynihan is right. We have to grow that. I was glad to see An Post as part of the consortium that won the lottery, for example. That is a very valuable stream of revenue for An Post into the future, but the Deputy is right that the future is digital.

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