Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 3, line 33, after “appropriate.” to insert “The Commission shall complete this consultation within a period of 42 days”.

As we outlined on Second Stage and Committee Stage, we recognise that action needs to be taken.

We want to see An Post continue as a strong semi-State company. We recognise also that the problems highlighted as far back as 2002 and 2003 were not addressed. These issues, combined with the decline in traditional mail services, have created a lot of pressure on the company. We must be careful how we do this. We do not want to see long, protracted consultations. We have tabled amendment No. 7 to put a limit of 42 days on the Minister in this regard and we hope he will accept the amendment. We cannot see any reason for objections to it. We all know that reviews and consultations can go on and on. We must try to make things more efficient in the State. An Post has to be able to sustain itself, and this is one of the reasons for the main thrust of this Bill as put forward by the Minister, Deputy Naughten. To leave a consultation period open-ended would be a retrograde step and could cause problems for An Post down the line, no matter which Government body is given the task, be it ComReg or another body. It is very important that they would have those time limits put on them. It is important to protect the jobs in An Post and protect the five day delivery service.

I will now turn to amendment No. 9. We have concerns about this Bill and have articulated these very clearly, especially the fact that ComReg is taking on the role of spectator rather than regulator. We accept that urgent action is needed, as I said in relation to amendment No. 7, and I accept the current Minister was not in the post in 2003, 2004 and 2005, but the Ministers with responsibility at the time were asleep at the wheel right throughout the past 13 or 14 years. I know that Ministers are busy but it is very important to maintain An Post.

An Post is a very important semi-State company that provides one of the best postal services in Europe. Its service is reliable and people use it every day. The company is a significant employer in the State with good unionised jobs, and we discussed workers' rights earlier in the Chamber during a debate on the Sinn Féin Industrial Relations (Right to Access) (Amendment) Bill 2016. An Post's workers are represented by the Communications Workers' Union, the CWU and they enjoy the rights of trade union recognition. Millions of euro come back into the State in PRSI and income tax from An Post workers who are in good steady employment and who provide a valuable service to us all. It is very important that this is maintained.

This is the spirit in which we submit, and I propose that Deputies accept, amendment No. 9. We suggest the Minister would have a role at the point when the price increase proposal would come to the Minister for final signing off. It is a semi-State company and the shareholder is the taxpayer, represented by the Minister. We are not talking about Tesco here. We are talking about a semi-State company. The Minister has a role to protect that service and to ensure we do not have runaway stamp prices. We see the predicament the company is in. We know a price increase is needed, but it cannot be a runaway price and we cannot give carte blancheto a company to do whatever it likes with regard to price increases. It is important the Minister represents the taxpayer and this House, and that the Minister has the final sign off on a price increase in postage rates. We ask that the amendment be accepted on that basis.

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