Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources his views on the need to retain the universal service obligation for postal services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45000/10]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 19: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources the protections in the Postal Services Bill to ensure that An Post does not require State subsidy or support as a consequence of cherry-picking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44883/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources the extent of any discussions he has had with An Post, management and staff, such as postal workers, post masters, sub-post masters; if he has set out his proposals at any such discussions with reference to the Postal Services Bill; if he has received submissions from the sectors; if he has agreed a formula to ensure countrywide next day delivery service and retention of the network at all levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44974/10]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 248: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied) [45089/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 257: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources his policy for the future of the postal sector [45336/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 19, 56, 248 and 257 together.

The Government's core policy goal for the postal sector is to ensure that Irish customers, both business and residential, enjoy competitively priced, high quality postal services. The Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010, which transposes the third postal services directive, has been published and Second Stage was taken in the Seanad last Wednesday. The directive provides for the final step in the gradual and controlled opening of the postal services market to competition.

In designing the new regulatory framework, the key principles are the maintenance of a universal postal service, the essential element of which is the collection and delivery of mail to every address in the State on every working day, and the development of a competitive sector providing competitively priced, high quality postal services to both business and residential customers.

The continuing provision and maintenance of the universal postal service is an explicit requirement of the directive. This key principle is enshrined in the new Bill, which designates An Post as the universal postal service provider. Designating An Post offers certainty to postal service users, An Post, the market and the EU that the universal service obligation will be met throughout the whole country, with no urban-rural divide. In addition, the Bill designates ComReg as the postal services regulator and one of its statutory functions is to ensure the provision of a universal postal service that meets the reasonable needs of users.

An Post has, to date, met the costs of providing the universal postal service from its own resources and it is my preference that it would continue to meet these costs from its commercial revenues. However, in line with the options permitted by the directive, a provision has been included in the Bill whereby any potential costs that arise in meeting the universal service obligation which are found to be an unfair burden will be met by the postal industry through a sharing mechanism.

It is right and appropriate that those postal service providers competing with An Post within the universal service contribute where the regulator verifies that an unfair burden exists. Exchequer funding of the universal service is not an option and consequently the Bill does not provide for such funding. There is a commitment to the delivery of a high quality postal service and the Bill provides that ComReg, the postal regulator, continue to set targets for and monitor the quality of service in relation to next day delivery provided by An Post, in its provision of the universal service.

Employment and service standards within the postal sector are the responsibility of the management of postal service providers. In addition, general employment legislation applies across the economy as a whole.

With regard to discussions held with An Post on the Bill, I and my officials regularly meet representatives from the company to discuss a range of matters of importance to the company, including issues relating to the liberalisation of the postal market. In addition, the issues for Ireland, arising from the directive, have been widely and comprehensively consulted upon. In 2008, a public consultation was held which elicited responses from many of the key stakeholders in the sector. These fed into an options paper, published by my Department in 2009, which examined the options for a liberalised postal market and made a number of recommendations.

I also hosted a postal forum, in November 2009, which was attended by many stakeholders in the sector, including postal service providers, the wider business community, the postal regulator, staff representation groups and users' interests groups, and in the main, there was broad support for the recommendations outlined in the options paper.

Following passage of the Bill through the Seanad I look forward to the debate in this House. It is my objective to have the legislation enacted before the end of the year.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy that the circumstances have changed in the last two years. The reduction in mail volumes have accelerated far quicker than anyone could have expected. Rather than being a motivation for maintaining the status quo, it reinforces the need that we will have to do something different. We will have to operate our postal services system in a different way. If we try to maintain the existing structure, operational arrangements and marketing approach in a dwindling market, it will lead to an ever-contracting service that would not be able to cope. We will have to reinvent and create new business opportunities that provide revenue and income streams for a highly skilled and committed workforce in An Post.

We raised these scenarios a year ago at a forum we held on the issue. What happens when the development of the Internet leads to a reduction in mail volume, but potential increases in other volumes? What do we need to do and how do we do it differently? The Bill going through the Oireachtas at the moment creates a better environment for an invigorated An Post that goes after new business opportunities.

Senator Quinn is a former chairman of An Post, and the speech he gave on Second Stage of the Bill in the Seanad was reflective of an attitude where we will have to look at doing things differently, allowing other providers in at various streams within the cost of business, and to give An Post a sense of new opportunities and new growth, rather than trying to maintain business as is happening at the moment.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I believe that the deadline for the transposition of the directive into Irish law is 31 December. It would appear that the Bill will not be enacted before that deadline. Can the Minister confirm this, or will he attempt to guillotine the Bill before that date? If it is not met, does the State face the possibility of having European fines imposed on it due to the Minister's tardiness in bringing it before the Oireachtas? Can the Minister assure me that he will not use this Bill as some sort of excuse to extend Green Party participation in the Government into January or February?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Bill is going to Committee Stage in the Seanad tomorrow and I hope to bring into the Dáil as soon as we can after that, so that we can order our business to get it done before the end of the year. That is my intention. It is needed to meet the directive but also to give the workers in An Post and in the rest of this industry a sense of direction and new opportunities that I talked about earlier.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I agree and the legislation seeks to maintain that universal service provision so that someone in Falcarragh is treated in the same way as someone in Dublin 4. The question of whether there should be State support for that depends on one's perspective. I believe that the national distribution network could be an asset in a new business model that would have to develop, rather than a cost or a liability. For example, if we are looking to develop Internet parcels or other arrangements, having a guaranteed national network service with offices and skilled people is a huge resource, rather than just a cost. We do not have the State funding to provide support for that but I believe that the important thing to do is to concentrate on a new business model that will use that network to develop revenue streams that help pay for it.