Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Senators on this side of the House are uncomfortable with leaving the wording as it stands. We are concerned that the provision may be used to undermine the principle of a universal service at some point in the future. In order to make a fast buck by providing a cheap service, it may be decided to require people from a dispersed community to get their post from an installation, that is, a post box in a fixed location.

The traditional way of life in country areas has been eroded. Post offices and Garda stations have closed and rural Ireland has been denuded of services. As we become more urbanised and removed from country living, the day may come when a commission considers it appropriate to restrict postal deliveries to a couple of days each week during the winter months or decides that certain geographical terrains do not merit delivery.

In his very competent contribution, Senator O'Toole spoke about force majeure. I assure the Minister that postal workers are braving the elements to deliver letters all over the country today. They would be horrified if they thought we were making legislative provision for them to do otherwise. Discretion will, of course, apply. If a road is physically impassable, a postal worker will not drive up it. If the seas are too rough on a given day to travel to the islands, deliveries will be delayed. A wild dog may prevent the postman from walking up a long bóithrín. Issues of force majeure will arise in practical situations but common sense will apply.

I do not question the Minister's bona fides but I doubt the wisdom of his answer. I am concerned that the section will be used cynically or for sinister purposes against the principle of the universal service obligation. We do not know what actors will be on the stage in the future or what their agendas may be. The desire for a quick buck could be the dominant motivation for a private operator who wins the franchise. An Post could perhaps come under serious financial constraints and, in order to achieve efficiencies, decide to deliver to a post box rather than to houses in certain locations. The universal service would then be thrown out the window.

The issue of weather is nonsense because common sense will apply. Postal workers try their best to deliver and it is seldom they are not successful in doing so. We should stand in awe at their efforts over the years.

We do not want to be remembered as the Legislature that presided over the end of the universal service or gave gangsters an opportunity to denude the people of a service for financial expediency. God knows, the people of rural Ireland whom I represent have suffered enough cutbacks in terms of closed Garda stations and post offices. We should not consider further cutting rural services. We need a vision and a value system that recognises the people who live up a bóithrín in Killinkere, of which Senator Brady is one of the most distinguished former residents, have the same right to post as the residents of Dublin 4. They have the same right to have it delivered efficaciously and with good humour as if they lived in Dublin 4. If there is a major physical obstacle to delivering the post, the postal worker will clearly use his or her discretion. Common sense has applied in these matters since time immemorial. I appeal to the Minister to reconsider the amendment because I do not accept his response on it.