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

It is not the case that An Post has sat on its hands, so to speak, in this area. An Post has extended new business lines in recent years in a range of areas, including Garda fines, gun licences, insurance services, foreign exchange services, Postfone, extended banking services, TaxPay, the DHL retail partnership, real-time waste top-up, Dublin same-day delivery, Saorview and the secure meter pilot scheme. Many new bill payment customers have been added and there has been a significant growth in the gift voucher business and so on. It is not true to say, therefore, that An Post has not come up with new business.

What concerns me a little is the proposition that it is the responsibility only of An Post, the Minister or the Government. At issue is a network of commercial enterprises that are privately owned. Of the 1,147 retail outlets, only 57 are owned by An Post. The remainder are privately owned and these too have a responsibility. I will be very positive about any new ideas they come up with provided that does not involve nailing a sign stating "Post office to close" on the door, which is what some of them are doing and which is not exactly the most business-oriented way forward.

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