James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to hear statements by Members of this House on the future development of An Post.

The image of Postman Pat and his black and white cat, while childish and certainly dated, is one that subconsciously portrays our ideal of the friendly local postman of yesteryear, still visible in some parts of rural Ireland today. Throughout our history, postal communication in all its forms has been our vital link with each other, from the valiant soldier who at great personal risk delivered the order to commence battle to the mail riders who can be credited with opening up the Wild West and the stagecoaches continually attacked by highwaymen. Hard-copy documents have been our lifeline and were hard fought. We must fight now for the future of An Post and ensure that progress does not threaten but rather enhances the service.

While we must take into account the social aspect of the postal services, especially in the rural context where the postman may be the only link the elderly and infirm living in remote areas have with the outside world, viability and enhancement are essential to keeping the service in operation. The 1,500 post offices and sub-post offices are a great national communications network and must be cherished.

As legislators we are aware there is political responsibility for the current situation in An Post. The difficulties An Post is experiencing did not happen in the short term but rather have been a growing and festering sore at the heart of the organisation. That the Government has turned a blind eye to this malaise is undoubted. It is time it took the bit between its teeth and set about rectifying the situation. The Government has let down the postal workers, the An Post pensioners and the public, the consumers of the service.

The An Post pensioners are particularly vulnerable as they have no say in the negotiations between the unions and the company. Despite their hard work over many years, they are being deprived of part of their pensions. This was stated over and over again, in particular when they picketed the Dáil approximately two weeks ago.

The public are the backbone of the postal service. They are the paying customers and they want and are entitled to an efficient service, which unfortunately they are not currently getting. It is not unreasonable to expect that a letter posted today to an address within this country will arrive tomorrow. It seems, however, that this is wishful thinking.

We are now seeing the result of efforts of the chief executive of An Post to force through cost-saving work practices. This led to escalating suspensions, ten days of postal disruption and an eventual and inevitable climbdown by management. An Post is now embroiled in yet another industrial crisis which looks set to damage its future prospects despite the interim settlement last month which saw the SDS closure details referred to the Labour Court.

The future of small post offices was discussed at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources yesterday, which I attended, where attention was drawn to the fact that there have been 600 closures of sub-post offices over the past six years, a rate of 100 a year, and nothing has been done to prevent this. There are 1,390 sub-post offices nationwide receiving 50% per transaction from An Post. The company is to take over the collection of fines for speeding, seat belt and other offences from the Garda early next year. This will create potential additional revenue for these sub-post offices.

The Irish Postmasters Union, whose efforts I fully support, both in my area of Longford-Westmeath and countrywide, is seeking the following: a commitment to a certain size and distribution of the post office network; funding for technology, that is computers, for the 400 post offices that are still paper based and which An Post sees as falling outside its commercial remit; the filling of the gap between actual income and legal minimum wage, €15,106, as has been done by the UK Government for its post office network; a continuation of the contract for social welfare payments through the post office network rather than through the banks; the provision of a full banking facility to An Post; to ensure that An Post passes on to the post office network a reasonable portion of the fees that accrue for the social welfare contract and the bill pay corporate consumers; and implementation of the Flynn report, 2002, that sees the post office becoming a one-stop-shop for all Government services.

The unions pitch their proposals on the vital social dimension of the post office within communities across the country, which will be seriously threatened unless the above points are recognised by the Government and adopted. I have had representations from postmasters and postmistresses in the Longford-Westmeath area seeking support for these very provisions that will ensure the future of their business which, in many cases, has been in the same family for generations.

Taxpayers cannot be expected to have unlimited patience with the gross mismanagement of An Post. In January 2003 the company's then chief executive told a Dáil committee that An Post's losses would be turned around and that the company would show a profit of more than €1 million for that year. The company ended up with operating costs of €42.8 million for that year. The losses for 2004 are expected to be over €30 million. The face of communications has changed and will never return to the era of pen and ink. An Post must embrace new technology and use it rather than fear it. The adoption of electronic communications by businesses, which poses a threat to traditional mail services, has to an extent been countered by the creation by An Post of PostGEM, which provides electronic communications and services to An Post business customers, the automation services called Counter Action, and the automated postal sorting project, Track a Package. These are examples of the way forward and the interlinking of traditional and modern services.

During my childhood in Longford I remember the postman had an uncanny knack of knowing when the envelope he was delivering contained bad news, namely, bills, or good news in the form of a cheque which he would hand over with a grin and a comment that this was a good one. An Post needs good news. The cycle of losses must be broken and the Government must take the responsibility it has long avoided to protect its future. There has been much talk of privatisation but it is essential to avoid the mistake of the Royal Mail in the UK, where the move towards privatisation has been abandoned.

The Minister is probably aware that postmistresses and postmasters throughout the country wish to meet all Oireachtas Members next week on this issue. I hope as many Members as possible meet them and hear their genuine grievances which must be addressed.