Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

In a previous amendment to section 47 we were seeking to implement a new provision which would allow for such an appeal across any of the decisions that ComReg makes. It is an amendment I shall be tabling on Report Stage, although we have been discussing it on Committee Stage. The point is that there is an appeal mechanism in place at any part of the decision making by ComReg, in a mediating role to a court, where appropriate.

In response to the general point, this goes to the heart of it as regards the role of regulators. I understand the certain concern within the political system to the effect that there may be a loss of power to the regulatory system and in certain instances we may have seen some effects which were not ideal. I have close responsibility for three main regulatory areas, ComReg, broadcasting and CER. My sense is that ten years in, they have bedded down and that the turbulence in the earlier years has somewhat reduced. They have greatly benefited, to my mind, in having three regulators, the triumvirate system rather than that of a sole decision maker, una voce. Often, the areas involved are complex and very technical with two or three strategic objectives. Having three commissioners, as with ComReg and CER, is a mechanism that works, and there is political oversight.

At no stage, as the Minister with responsibility for those areas, did I not have the ability to talk to a regulator and share my views, while respecting his or her independence at the same time. When very complex commercial decisions have to be made on pricing, access to networks and so on I do not want to be making such decisions as Minister. I do not regard that as appropriate and believe it is better for the regulator to do it. I cannot think of any instances over the last three and a half years where I have been in a position where I believed the policy approach was fundamentally wrong, but in the event, there is provision in the legislation that allows the Minister to issue a policy direction. As such, there is oversight. If one believed the approach being taken was not meeting national policy objectives, one could use that legislative provision. Because one can talk to regulators and work rationally through matters - one can develop a co-operative working arrangement with anyone - I have not had recourse to that provision, but it is in place. In my experience, our regulatory system works. Senator O'Toole is correct that what we are doing is similar to what a regulator does. In that regard, in the case of telecommunications technology, local loop unbundling is probably a good analogy to use.

To my mind, what we are doing is beginning to work. Broadband numbers are improving and costs have come down. There has been a change in the incumbent operator's philosophy in that it now sees the business opportunities that come with co-operation, rather than trying to maintain an existing market position. The same will have to occur in the postal service. If we do not do this, mail volumes will continue to contract and the business case will not stand up, causing serious problems for the large number employed in An Post. I want the business to be re-energised in order that employees' futures are protected, but we cannot do this by watching mail volumes decline or maintaining the business as is. The only way we can do this is to allow new access systems and business models to develop, with a commercial return to An Post and other postal service providers. We must provide this flexibility for management and workers of An Post.

I do not believe what is proposed in Senator O'Reilly's amendment No. 31 which would maintain the business as is would be the appropriate approach to take in five or ten years time. I do not know what new mail, parcel or income streams will be developed. If we try to legislate for this, we will get it wrong. It is better to have a regulator and a Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources who constantly reviews the business in terms of how it is evolving and developing and determining from where will come new business opportunities. Therefore, it would not be right for us to legislate now for the structures in this regard, as provided for in the amendment. It is better to allow the regulator, the Minister, An Post management and other market players to come to this through a negotiated process. That is what we have legislated for.