Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Terry in a call for a debate on the postal service, which is appalling. As a member of a trade union, it grieves me to admit that despite repeated efforts on my part and on the part of many people in my community, there is a totally inefficient and even absent postal service. I was told by senior members of the trade union involved to fire the relevant postmen myself. I had to collect my post at the local exchange for three years. I was stopped by a trade union official and told I would have to pay. I paid and collected my own post and my neighbours' post because it was not being delivered to our homes.

The situation has gone so far out of control recently that weeks have passed without any post being delivered. It finally came to a head when neighbours had to collect other neighbours' post on the side of the road and deliver it through their letter boxes, including my own. It is about time we all faced reality. I fully support Senator Terry's comments and I call on the Leader to have a debate so that we can face down the trade unions. We must ask them to act responsibly in the interests of a postal service that soon will not exist if urgent action is not taken.