Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are opposing the section. I was not going to engage in debate on this. It is inevitable that, because of the wording of the various amendments concerning section 3, the Minister and Senator Cullinane will engage on this at the heart of the debate.

I have just a couple of points. Will the Minister outline the terms of the contract? Of course I congratulate An Post. This is not my first time. The achievement of An Post was very laudable. Perhaps the Minister might provide the context for this. Did many tender for the contract? What were its terms and was any indication given that the payment provider, as the provider will now be called, would have to provide a comprehensive service? This leads me to the question of whether, in the future, some other entity could advocate that it could provide the service. I refer to supermarkets, for example, which seem to be moving increasingly in this direction, aided and abetted by An Post. It is cutting its own throat in this regard, and I just do not know why it is doing so.

Perhaps, the Minister could outline that.

We have had an exchange of views already on the legal challenges. However, the Minister has not answered a question I put on Second Stage and which Deputy O'Dea put in the Dáil. I would be grateful if she would address it for me for the record. In 2007, there was a High Court judgment which came to a particular conclusion in a case taken in the context of the 2005 legislation, which already included reference to An Post. What has changed since? If it was thrown out in 2007, why has it been reinstated? The Minister made the point that a Fianna Fáil Government introduced this, but both this Government and the last have just been trying to be good Europeans. Perhaps, we should take a leaf out of the French book. The French post office network has been completely protected and does not seem to be succumbing to legal challenges from Europe. I often wonder if we in this country are perhaps bending over backwards to help the Brussels bureaucracy contrary to our own national interest. Here is a situation where we should just put it up to Europe and say "Challenge us". The Minister should write into the legislation in relation to contracts a preference for an entity which can provide the type of service An Post can. While I appreciate the Government would have to be careful with the wording, it should not be beyond the competence of the legal draftsmen and women to bring forward wording which would ensure the post office network was protected. It can be done under social legislation yet there seems to be a marked reluctance among certain elements in Europe to engage in the debate.

I was a parliamentary representative on the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which now seems to be long forgotten but was incorporated into the Treaty of Lisbon. I remember the solid hostility to the introduction of proposals to protect social services, particularly in rural parts of Europe such as in Ireland where there was a need to ensure that all citizens were treated equally in terms of the provision of utilities and services. This is part of the same thinking that is going on within Europe to the effect that big business should win out and the smaller and rural communities across Europe, particularly in western Europe, should just be forgotten about. It should be incumbent on any Irish Government to protect its citizens and their rights to ensure they have the same service in the heart of Achill Island as in the heart of Dublin. They should have the same services in Waterford and Leitrim as are available to people in Dublin. It seems, however, that we are developing a two-tier society and the Bill is a reflection of that.

I would be grateful if the Minister would clarify those issues. Why is it necessary? Who put in the legal challenge? Where did it come from? In light of the success of the An Post contract, the Minister says it is for two years and can then be rolled over. Does that automatically mean An Post will have it for a further six years?