Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

It was their appraisal of the situation in An Post, and of the way forward. There is tremendous tension between unions and management in An Post. Postmen and other workers have had no pay increase since February 2003. They are not extremely well paid. While An Post points to the economic necessity of making profits, I ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to recognise the social dimension in An Post in the application of profit and loss accounting, and to ask ComReg to quantify that social dimension and give an appropriate recognition to An Post with regard to its role.

I would like the Minister to focus on such issues. I am not sure that changing the postal codes and addresses will make a significant impact, other than involving a substantial financial cost. There are many more important issues for the Minister to tackle. Perhaps he might attend this House and allow us to discuss An Post and its services.