Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the fact that the Minister of State is delivering this reply on behalf of his senior Government colleague. I would describe it as a very glossy reply. It certainly ticks a lot of boxes in terms of IT and modern communications and ways of doing business. It also states very clearly that we are probably the most compliant Europeans in Europe. Sometimes it would be good not to be such good, compliant Europeans. We do not necessarily have to uphold the law in this area. I am concerned about the thousands of jobs within the post office network that hinge on this contract, the social exclusion that will result from An Post losing this contract and the fact the loss of this contract will be another nail in the coffin of rural Ireland. I stress that it is not all about the bottom line. This decision has serious social consequences. I ask the Minister of State to advise his senior Government colleague that people will not take this lying down and that rural Ireland will fight this head on because it cannot be allowed to happen.