Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As Senator Barrett noted, there is a team of people there who are dedicated and very anxious to succeed. I think it was in Ballinasloe that the people involved told me that the night before they had discovered one letter that had not been delivered because it had slipped between two drawers. They went out and found somebody who would deliver it that night, all because of their commitment to ensure that service was delivered. That is a huge strength. It is one of the reasons I believe there is need to listen very well to customers. In my own business I always spent time each week, and arranged for everybody else to do the same, doing the actual work of the business. I encouraged the senior executives in An Post to go and work in the post offices, whether delivering the mail, being behind a desk doing pensions, or whatever. Some said, "We did that 20 years ago, Chairman". I told them a lovely seanfhocal I remembered, "Éist le fuaim na h-abhainn agus gheobhaidh tú breac". Listen to the sound of the river if you want to catch a fish and you will catch a fish. I told them the water in that river was not the same as it was last week, last year, or 20 years ago. One really needs to keep in touch with what is happening.

There are so many developments that would benefit An Post, as a number of speakers have indicated, including the Minister. Post offices can be the glue that keeps a community together, particularly in rural areas. There must be things we can do on that basis. If one goes around Europe, one seldom goes into a post office where one does not see a very broad range of services. We are touching some of these here, whether banking, insurance or retailing, but one sees that range of goods on offer. We can do the same. In the past I have had the opportunity to visit post offices in New Zealand and Japan, both of which have privatised their post office system. I do not say this should not be considered - everything should be considered at this time. An Post has the ability to expand because it is trusted by the population to a considerable degree. Some 18% of our population are "unbanked" - a nice word. As the movement away from cash takes place something of that kind will happen here.

It is interesting to see what happens in France. Taxes there are collected to a very large extent by the post office; so are rates, electricity bills and motor taxes, which were mentioned today. I imagine we have all been approached, as I was, by the Irish Postmasters Union which is concerned about the anti-money laundering movement that will affect prize bonds. They believe if there is to be anti-money laundering the rate should not be as low as €25 but should be set at €100. I doubt very much if money launderers are going to launder sums of money at that level.

Another issue is the delivery of mail. In 1983, when relevant legislation was going through, there was a big battle to ensure there would be delivery to each home. Is that still on? Does it make sense? When one goes to France, and other countries, in particular the United States-----