Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 465: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has received communication from the Post Masters' Union or some post masters with specific reference to the potential alternative or extra utilisation of the post office network in the aftermath of deregulation; if he will encourage directly or through the aegis of An Post measures to expand the scale of services available while maintaining the core business such as nationwide next day delivery backed up by counter services and ensuring that cherry picking of the most lucrative sectors of the service is not allowed or facilitated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36881/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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With regard to the post office network, operational matters and the sustainability of the post office network are a matter for the management and board of An Post and one in which I have no statutory function. As shareholder, however, I do have a strong concern in relation to the ongoing commercial position of the Company and I regularly liaise with the Company in this regard. An Post has many strengths and has the largest retail presence in the country. I have impressed on the Company the need to further exploit its unique position in this regard and have been supportive of its attempts to diversify its income streams and to win a wider range of commercial contracts offering higher margins. This strategy is bearing fruit with the enhanced arrangement with AIB and I fully support the Company's strategy in this regard and its recent heads of agreement with Aviva.

I recently met with the Irish Postmasters' Union who presented me with a copy of the Grant Thornton report, The Future of the Post Office Network in Ireland, which focuses on growing the business to make the network more sustainable. I have read and considered this report and found it both positive and ambitious. In the context of the public sector transformation agenda, I will continue to engage with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to consideration, as appropriate, of the post office network for transactional elements of the business of Government Departments and Agencies and have stressed to my Government colleagues that the network is ideally configured for over the counter transactions.

In relation to postal services, the Government's core policy goal for the postal sector is to ensure that Irish customers, both business and residential, enjoy competitively priced, high quality postal services. The Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011 has put in place a robust and appropriate regulatory framework for the postal services market. While I have overall responsibility for the postal sector, the Act charges the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), as the postal regulator, with the promotion of the development of the postal sector and particularly the availability of the universal postal service, the promotion of the interests of users and the facilitation of the development of competition in the sector. ComReg is in regular contact with my Department. Under the 2011 Act, An Post is statutorily required, as the designated universal service provider, to provide a universal postal service. The essential element of this obligation is the collection and delivery of mail to every address in the State on every working day. The universal service obligation is a form of safety net, ensuring by way of regulatory obligations that a minimum set of services is provided at an affordable price for the benefit of all users, irrespective of their geographical location. It is a fundamental principle of the regulatory framework for postal services and is an explicit requirement of the EU Postal Services Directive which has provided for the gradual and controlled opening of the postal services market to competition. The Deputy may wish to note that the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act of 2011 also makes provision for a compensation mechanism, to be met by the postal industry, if it is found that the universal service obligation is an unfair burden on the designated universal service provider.