David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 10, to delete lines 17 and 18 and substitute the following:

" "universal social provider" means An Post and that An Post is retained as the only provider of the collection and delivery of letters.".

I will be very brief. Amendment No. 5 states:

In page 18, to delete lines 23 to 46 and in page 19, to delete lines 1 to 20 and substitute the following:

"17.—An Post is designated as the universal postal service provider.".

That amendment will provide the Minister with a last chance to honour the commitment given in the programme for Government that he would designate An Post as a universal service provider for 20 years. We made that point before and I would like a response on why there has been a move from that clear commitment in the programme for Government. If the Minister supports this amendment he will have taken the last chance for the Government to support what it put forward in the programme for Government, and before that in election promises. Previous to the election the Minister's party had long-held views on supporting An Post as the universal service provider in this State.

The Minister indicated that the Bill is not intended to privatise An Post but it is a first step in privatising the service. Private operators will cherrypick some of the more lucrative services. I have no doubt that this is a stated intention, although perhaps not from the Minister. I accept the Minister's bona fides but there is no doubt that the European Union would like to see states privatise many services currently supported by the State. It is a stated objective of the Union. The Minister's partners in the Government, Fine Gael, would most certainly be supportive of the privatisation of An Post.

I do not necessarily question the Minister's commitment in this respect but I have a concern about the intentions of the European Union directives which are essentially based on a wish to privatise services, including An Post. I am also concerned about the intentions of the other party in the Government. I have no doubt that Fine Gael would look to privatise An Post much more quickly than the Minister if given the opportunity to do so.