Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Absolutely. He talked about negativity in our presentation of the motion but that was groundless and the record will substantiate this. I acknowledged An Post's 4% improvement in next-day deliveries this year. I acknowledged the advance in industrial relations, for which management must accept some plaudits. Senator Brady was aware of this because of his former trade union activities. I said the rural post office was a focal point in our communities and highly valued by the people. What I meant was subsequently elaborated by others here, that it is a drop-in centre, a place of friendship, a social centre, a one-stop-shop for many people and a friendly focal point in a community, and is of great importance. I acknowledge what Senator Quinn said, that it should be viewed in social terms, and so it should, however I identified ways we could augment its business, and Senator Quinn would be the first to acknowledge that this is necessary.

I appreciate Senator Alex White's comments, which are relevant. In a healthy democracy such as ours it is the job of the Opposition to raise probing issues, explore what is happening in a critical way and attempt to achieve change by that method. On Senator Quinn's point about broadband, we have addressed that issue and will do so again in the next month in a comprehensive fashion with many new ideas.

The motion makes two substantive points. It states we do not have next-day delivery for approximately a quarter of our post and in a competitive, modern environment that is not in order and we should strive to improve on it. We acknowledge what has been achieved to date but there is a wide gap between the level of delivery recommended and required by the regulator, which is 98%, and the national average of 78%. There is a problem and it needs to be addressed. It is relevant to our industrial performance and many other issues, and it must happen. Why should we be behind Britain and other European countries on this?

The motion's other point is the closure of post offices. The Government has been too acquiescent in the closure of 399 post offices in the past ten years. There should not be complacency on this. It is a crying shame and it is the job of Opposition to record that fact. The two problems are next-day delivery levels and the closure of post offices. In light of the Minister's speech, in which he accepted many of our contentions, and in light of all the arguments, we again ask the Government to withdraw its amendment and accept our motion. I commend the motion to the House as a sensible exhortation to the Government and An Post to improve its service to the Irish people.