Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to the Chamber to discuss An Post, specifically the integrity and security of our postal service. More than 3 million items of post are handled by An Post every day and, in general, it does a first class job, but recent media reports suggest there are rising levels of theft in the system, both internal Irish mail and particularly Irish mail to the United Kingdom. We have no control over the Royal Mail service but many people in the business community and ordinary citizens are starting to lose confidence in the postal system. That is alarming. This kind of theft is insidious. I have been in touch with An Post's press office and it accepts there is a level of theft. That level has reached unacceptable heights which is why I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on that issue soon.