Feargal Quinn (Independent)

Of O2's 1.7 million customers, 70% have switched to on-line or paperless billing. Vodafone has a similar number of customers and is now taking the same steps. That is a reminder of how easy it is for companies to save money with the consent of their customers. Sir Philip Green, when he identified the costs of running the United Kingdom at Government level, found that the amount of wasted paper was huge. I draw attention to what each Senator received in his or her box today. Not only did we receive the Order Paper which contains 18 pages of text, most of which has been repeated every day for a long time, but also we received it in an envelope. It is sent to each one of us and I assume the corresponding Order Paper is sent to each of the Dáil Deputies. There seems to be no understanding in the House and perhaps in Government circles in general of a modern way of communicating. We can all communicate in other ways. There is no one who cannot use a laptop, a mobile phone or some other system. We cannot afford to sit back and let somebody else do something about it. Let us do it ourselves. Apart from anything else, it would help the environment, lower costs and save us from having to carry things around. I, therefore, urge the Leader to draw attention to the opportunity to make savings and the benefits that might result from this. Let us make sure we no longer ignore opportunities to engage in paperless communication, methods we are all capable of using.