Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply but it is a typical Civil Service answer. Nothing we said could be interpreted as other than wanting the process to be open, transparent and fair. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. How could the fact the post office would process and co-ordinate the application and send it on to the licensing authority be anything other than open, transparent and fair? The process would be the same throughout the country. The applicants would get their application form in a post office and would get their photographs taken in the same way that people get their photographs taken for passports. They would bring the completed application form to the post office, where it would be checked and then it would be sent to the licensing authority. I think that is a very simple process.

The Minister said that the contract would go out for tender in 2017 or 2018. I would hope at this stage, the post office network, which is in urban as well as in rural areas, would put a tender together to compete for the contract. It would be a simpler process if the post offices were allowed to co-ordinate the applications and send them to the licensing authority.