| Gov reneging further on commitments in Programme for Government, while putting important community Post Office’s at further risk |
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| Written by MD | ||||||
| Monday, 08 August 2011 00:00 | ||||||
Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (Resumed)Tuesday, 26 JulyDeputy Pat Rabitte asked in his introduction ‘Where is the postman?!’, Senator Daly ponders this in its reality as Government reneges on its commitments in its programme for government under the Communications (Postal Services) Bill. Section in Programme for Government: “A universal postal service is an essential public service, in particular for rural communities and those disadvantaged communities affected by digital divide. A publicly owned, commercially viable, profitable and efficient An Post is critical to the long-term viability of the postal market. We will enact into law the Postal Services Bill which opens postal market to competition. Will protect universal service obligation by assigning it to An Post for at least 20 years, make provision for state subvention and require that any decision by ComReg to reassign or scrap USO is subject to ministerial approval.” – Programme for Government 2011 Mark Daly: I was interested that the Minister mentioned the commitment in the programme for Government to protect the universal postal service. I have mentioned previously the statement in the programme for Government about the position of An Post as the State's postal service provider for the next 20 years. This will now not be the case, as we can see from this legislation and the amendments. The period now being talked about is 12 years, with a review after seven years. This does not provide certainty to An Post in line with the commitment made by Fine Gael and the Labour Party in their programme for Government, which was not a million years ago. It was not even an election promise, which is a bit unusual. The programme for Government states:A universal postal service is an essential public service, in particular for rural communities and those disadvantaged communities affected by digital divide. A publicly owned, commercially viable, profitable and efficient An Post is critical to the long-term viability of the postal market. We will enact into law the Postal Services Bill which opens postal market to competition. Will protect universal service obligation by assigning it to An Post for at least 20 years, make provision for state subvention and require that any decision by ComReg to reassign or scrap USO is subject to ministerial approval. As the Minister knows, this did not come from the Labour Party manifesto. Lord Denning was even quoted: what is said in an election manifesto is not a contractual obligation, but then again it is probably not worth the paper it is written on either. However, the commitment to which I refer is not from an election manifesto; it is from a programme for Government from just over four months ago. We are not happy that the Government is doing this after giving that commitment. I ask the Minister to consider this. There are some worthy amendments proposed by my colleagues, which were also made in the Dáil by Opposition parties.I also refer to the provision for the post code system to acknowledge place names and locations in the Irish language. With that in mind and bearing in mind that the Bill is being guillotined, I ask the Minister to provide an answer on that most important issue. Fundamentally, the postal service as we know it will be radically changed. Other European countries have managed to comply with the European directives without taking the steps that are being proposed in this legislation. We must ensure that rural areas will be provided with the service they should be getting and that they are getting at the moment. Unfortunately, however, this is being changed, even since January. I ask the Minister to come back to us with regard to the commitment in the programme for Government. I will not speak any more as I want to ensure my colleagues have a chance to speak, but I ask him to address that specific point. Senator Mark Daly: I support my colleague on amendment No. 5. As the Senator mentioned, we are only supporting Fine Gael and Labour in their commitments in the programme for Government. As I indicated in my opening address, that document was produced only four months ago. I do not know what has happened in the meantime but the parties have rowed back on that commitment. I fear that we are teeing up An Post for privatisation, which may not equate to a better service. I do not know if that is the objective of the European Union but we will be bowing to the gods of commercialism while ensuring that rural Ireland does not receive the service it had up until the implementation of this EU directive. We will support the amendment though, ironically, it supports Fine Gael and Labour. That is a turn-up for the books, but I am sure Fine Gael and Labour Party Senators will vote against their own programme for Government. That is politics. I second the amendment.
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