Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I strongly support this amendment. Yesterday I contacted the Bills Office to append my name in its support. Obviously, it goes without saying that trade unions and workers are important stakeholders in An Post and in the delivery of the postal services. We can be very proud of them, something I say in an unpatronising way. Our postal staff at local level and up the line, those with whom we come in daily contact, the postpeople, the men and women who deliver the post throughout the country, are an exemplary group. They do enormous service and act considerably beyond their defined duty, which is to deliver mail. As a representative of a rural constituency in Cavan-Monaghan, I have anecdotal evidence with which I could keep the House all evening, recalling tales of individual workers for An Post who have done jobs way beyond their call of duty. I know they are doing so this evening as they do every day of the week. I wish to say that to them, very unpatronisingly and this amendment gives me the opportunity to put on the record of the House my appreciation of them, as a representative of the community on which they impact so greatly. Their legitimate organised body, their spokespeople and their union should be part of any consultative process. I would like to think, charitably, that this has been a draughting omission of some sort and there was not a conscious decision to omit them. If there has been, that would be horrendous and unacceptable and would contravene every kind of right, whether rights accrued under the Lisbon treaty, constitutional rights or normal negotiation rights which to date are precedent. There are no grounds or criteria that would justify excluding postal workers, postal unions and the organised labour organisations.

Neither are there grounds that would justify excluding consumers, end users or beneficiaries of the service, the people on the ground who receive the postal services. They must be part of a consultative process and have every reason so to be. The people at post office level, postmasters and postmistresses throughout the country, must also be included. All people who have an involvement with the services should be part of a consultative process and should be consulted. I strongly support the amendment and have a real expectation that the Minister will accept it. It is not an issue a democratic assembly should be contemplating dividing on at this stage. It is a matter of simply amending the legislation or of receiving a commitment from the Minister to come back on Report Stage to so do.