Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

My local postman is one of the only ones in the country who delivers all of his letters by bicycle every day. A recent TG4 programme followed him for a few days to show that he goes up and down every road on good and bad days delivering the post by bicycle. He is one of the fittest and happiest postmen in Ireland. He told me that he is happier delivering on the bicycle than in a car and if given the choice he would continue to deliver on the bicycle. His name is Seamus Mulligan.

Every year more than 3,600 An Post staff deliver more than 75 million items of mail to 1.3 million homes and businesses from more than 4,500 post boxes and 1,395 post offices nationwide using 2,900 vehicles, including the bike to which I referred. More than 1,000 staff process mail for onward delivery while 1,000 post office clerks at post office counters provide customers with an ever-increasing range of products and services. In addition, more than 1,307 post office contractors employing a further 1,000 staff provide post office services in dedicated outlets and within large retail outlets throughout the State. A further 162 individuals operate postal agencies for An Post while PostPoint agencies exceed 3,000 nationally.

An Post is in the process of a major countrywide quality initiative geared to delivering and improving on its service. A target of 80% for 2007 was set and agreed with ComReg and 72% was achieved in 2006. At present, a level of 78% has been reached and new figures are due at the end of November. A major three year programme has been agreed between An Post and ComReg with the objective of increasing this level to 94%. Inbound international targets were set at 84.4% in 2006 and 93.3% for 2007.

Mail in Ireland has seen an 8% growth in volume between 2006 and 2007, which reverses the international trend. The TNT system is down 4.4%, Deutsche Post is down 3% and Royal Mail is down 2%. Up to 1 million items are sorted per night by postal staff around the country and we should recognise the great work the postal service does for us in delivering messages daily. Members of An Post's management are here this evening and they are very welcome.

Of the 1,450 post offices in Ireland only 90 are directly staffed by An Post and the rest are operated by self-employed contractors. People are quick to criticise An Post and other companies when they want to distance themselves from blame. Post offices may be closing around the country but when a post office in my constituency of Port na Blath closed some years ago, not due to cutbacks but because the postmaster was retiring, I contacted the chairperson of An Post, Margaret McGinley. The company began local negotiations in an effort to obtain an alternative service provider but was unsuccessful because nobody was willing to take up the service. An Post provided a post box that was subsequently criminally damaged. The company replaced that post box but it was damaged again so it is now unwilling to replace it unless a safe place is found for it. I agree with An Post in all of its decisions in this case because they were made due to the retirement of the postmaster and postmistress who may now enjoy the fruits of their working lives. It is easy to point to closures in general and use general figures but we must remember that there are also specific cases.

The post office network is critical in rural Ireland and the local post office, where people can drop by for a chat, offers a focal point for many communities. I welcome the ruling of the European Court of Justice last week that social welfare payments by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, delivered through the postal service, will not be interrupted and will be allowed to continue. This will be of major benefit to the many recipients of social welfare payments across the country and it will be of advantage to An Post in the delivery of other services. The Postbank system referred to by Senator Boyle is also of major benefit and means all post offices nationwide will, effectively, operate their postal services while dispensing social welfare receipts and providing a top of the range, international standard banking system. We should welcome this initiative and the ongoing commitment to An Post of Fortis Bank, which is an international financial services provider engaged in banking and insurance.

I support the Government's amendment to the motion because we must support An Post in its work and in the targets it has set with ComReg. There is scope to extend the role of the ordinary postman and we should consider allowing the him act as a conduit in collecting data for the electoral register.