Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I will not delay in order to facilitate all my colleagues.

I welcome the Minister to discuss this important legislation. It has been well flagged to Members through the representations we have received from postmen throughout the country. I appreciate their concern as this new departure in postal regulation takes place. We need to transpose a European directive into Irish law but we must do that with caution. We must reflect on the fact that the postal service we have enjoyed for more than a century has been one of the mainstays of the social and economic development of our country. The Irish postman and postwoman has a unique presence in the community, especially in rural parishes and smaller villages. For many people the only knock on the door they will hear every second or third day is the postman's knock. That is something we must try to preserve in so far as it is possible.

We must recognise that economic changes in Ireland and Europe bring about a new sense of policy direction and policy directive but in the changing Ireland, we do not have to throw out the baby with the bath water. We must proceed with a degree of caution. The universal service obligation which applies to An Post has created a unique, effective service for every household in this country. When this regulation is transposed into law we must ensure, in so far as is possible, certainty of service to every citizen.

The universal service obligation is at the core of the legislation. I am not an expert on the full content of the Bill. I am sure we will tease it out in greater detail on Committee Stage but I listened to what our colleagues said about the need to ensure fair and balanced competition and the need to avoid cherry-picking. That is the consensus on both sides of the House and I hope the Minister, Deputy Ryan, will take that on board.

In this changing world our postal service is unique. It has been efficient and cost effective and we must try to maintain it in so far as is possible. The liberalisation of services and the introduction of competition has been the mantra of most of us, and that has worked well in most areas of life, but we must have a degree of balance between the market side and the social service side of that philosophy. The objective in this legislation will be to create that balance.

I look forward to the more substantive Committee Stage debate but I want to record my admiration for all those men and women down the generations who delivered either on foot or by bike, van or car tens of millions of items of postal correspondence to the citizens of this country. We live in a changed world but that ethos and that service must survive, and we must try to do whatever possible to ensure it does.