Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I fully accept the Minister of State's thesis and Members would have taken that as a given. I believe reference was made on Second Stage that Members are more than aware of the degree to which information technology has caught on and is being used. In a way this makes it more necessary to be supportive of the universal service obligation and supportive of An Post. It will not simply face competition from private operators but also from information technology in the broad sense of developments with e-mails and so on. All Members are aware of this and all Members of this Parliament, myself included, albeit belatedly, have been obliged to adapt to and use new technology day to day. While no question arises in this regard, it underlines further the need to support An Post. I refer first to the need to support the universal service obligation on a statutory basis and, second, the need to support An Post.

I take the point made by the Minister of State in his response to me that it obviously is a given in the legislation that the universal service obligation continues. While it may be a given in words, Fine Gael's objective is to ensure the prevention of what happened in England and other countries. The Minister of State will be aware of studies in other countries that have brought in and given legislative effect to the European Union directive but which did not build in sufficient safeguards, which has resulted in the universal service obligation being threatened and in costs becoming prohibitive. Fine Gael is seeking to achieve the preservation of the universal service obligation by preserving a pitch on which it can survive. This is the reason I have tabled this proposal. I take it that amendment No. 16 will be dealt with later and that Members are dealing with amendments up to amendment No. 15?