Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

With regard to Senator O'Toole's contribution, there will always be recourse to mediation. I always recommend mediation to avoid an expensive court case. This would provide for mediation following mediation but I would always keep it open as a possibility while making legislative provisions and allowing people who wish to seek legal recourse in the courts to do so.

The wording in section 28 does not provide for a cartel arrangement. Individual service providers will enter negotiations for commercial transactions. I refer Senators O'Reilly and Hanafin to section 28(9), which states, "Where the Commission makes a decision with respect to the price of access to the postal network concerned it shall take into account any costs avoided by a universal postal service provider by granting such access and network costs of the universal postal service provider involved in granting such access." This is a clear provision which says that the job of the regulator with expertise built up over time is to provide an independent assessment of those costs and recommend terms if there cannot be an agreed, negotiated or mediated solution. The subsection gives the commission the wherewithal to ensure this is cost reflective both in costs avoided and costs accrued.