Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a little of what Australians would term the "dog whistle politics" about this. In other words, Deputies are trying to raise a fear in the minds of the postmasters and particularly elderly customers who rely on An Post for the services with which we are all familiar. I have voiced the concern before that Deputies are frightening people a little too much. An Post has the contract until December 2019 if it wishes to keep to it. I do not run An Post but it won the contract for two years, with the option to renew for four years. Instead of congratulating An Post on winning the contract, Deputies are trying to sow a doubt. They are implying that winning the contract - a success for An Post - is somehow a failure. The Deputies cannot have it both ways.

The Deputies have argued they are madly in favour of An Post but Deputy Ó Snodaigh in particular on Committee Stage seemed to want to force people to take payments from An Post. It is not possible to force people with bank accounts to go to the local post office and form a queue.

See this speech in context