Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

These are important amendments which go to the core of some of my concerns. A universal postal service should mean what it says. It is stated in section 16(1)(a) that it is conditional on the interpretation or understanding of the commission.

On the reference to geographical conditions, we would all understand there being a difficulty with deliveries or collections due to weather conditions or whatever, but that should not be stated in the legislation. That should be left to the discretion of the service providers, assuming that is the intention of including the wording in the Bill. My interpretation of the phrase "geographical conditions" would be the geography of the country, the hilly boreens and mountainous areas where people live. I am concerned if this wording remains in the legislation that it could be interpreted by a commission based in Dublin to the detriment of those rural dwellers who live in remote geographical areas. If the wording in the Bill is left unamended, it leaves the door open for the service to be cherry-picked by future service providers. Only large urban areas and, I suppose, areas with many dwellers will be cherry-picked. We must remember that more than two thirds of Ireland consists of rural areas. There are many difficult routes in remote areas that postmen navigate to get to residents. If this legislation goes through as drafted, it will deprive those rural dwellers of a basic entitlement to universal service. That is my concern.

The Minister should remember that many rural and farming enterprises are located down boreens or country roads. If the service to them is diminished in any way, it will be to the detriment of many of those businesses. People who operate businesses depend on the postal service which, we must acknowledge, is one of the successes of the State's systems. People can depend on their postman calling every day and they can depend on their post being collected at the recognised collection points.

Good points are being made by Senators in the debate. I have serious concerns about the area of interpretation and giving the power to the commission to decide on geographical conditions and appropriate installations. Such terminology is too vague and leaves the door too open. Rural areas will not be serviced well if this goes through. For example, a year and a half ago I was contacted by constituents in rural east Waterford when An Post made a unilateral decision to close one of the oldest post boxes in the country. When the people of that area discovered it was closed, there was uproar. I am glad to say that when representations were made, common sense prevailed and the post box was reinstated. That is how much it meant to those rural constituents because here was a regular post box in a rural area with a recognised collection.

We are going down a dangerous road if we leave it up to a commission based in Dublin to decide what postal services will remain open and what geographical circumstances will allow the service to be operated daily. I ask the Minister to think closely with his officials about the wording of this, as we cannot afford to pass legislation that will deprive large areas of the countryside and citizens of a service on which they have come to depend.