Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

It is rare that I stand up and praise unions but on this occasion I must state the CWU has given us a very fair and level briefing on the Bill. Even if it never gave the briefing, I would agree with what it is saying. The universal service obligation must be protected absolutely. If the market is to be opened up, it should only be on the basis that every other provider meets the same universal service obligation requirement. Otherwise, one would not have a level playing field.

The main concern of the union in representing its members, the postmen, is that businesses will enter the market and cherry-pick. We could have a great service in towns and urban areas and an unreliable service or none at all in rural areas. This occurred with health care. This is why universal health service provision, as outlined in Fine Gael policy, represents the way forward. We must push for this for the postal service. The postal service has an amazing social function. The postman is sometimes the only caller people in the most rural and isolated areas have in the day. We must protect the valuable service provided by the postman by way of delivering messages, communicating and offering a lifeline.

We do a lot for profit but this legislation could make An Post very unprofitable. It is just making €5 million per year but it employs 10,000 people. In Galway city and county alone, 500 postpersons are employed. The CWU and other trade unions have played a very valuable role in this regard. Their voice is highly regarded and their case is well put. We need to be careful about disregarding them.