Government loses vote over removal of cap on postage prices

The Government has been defeated in a vote to impose a deadline on the review of a decision to increase the price of postage stamps.

A Sinn Féin amendment by the party's communications spokesman Brian Stanley was accepted by 62 votes to 57 with no abstentions, against the wishes of Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs Seán Kyne.

Fianna Fáil, Labour, Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, the Green party, the Social Democrats and a number of Independents supported Sinn Féin. Independents Michael Collins, Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath, Michael Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae and Noel Grealish supported the Government.

It is the second piece of legislation on which the Government has lost a vote. The minority administration was previously defeated in a vote on a Sinn Féin amendment to the Road Traffic Bill, providing for the regulation of rickshaws.

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Mr Stanley’s amendment to the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) (Amendment) Bill provided for the consultation process on the impact of lifting the cap on the price of postage to be completed within 42 days. It had been estimated to take about six months.

He said “we don’t want to see long, protracted consultations” and “we must try to make things more efficient in the State”.

Third increase

The change to the Communications Regulation Act by Minister for Communications Denis Naughten allows An Post to lift the current price ceiling for stamps which are expected to rise by between 14 per cent and 35 per cent. It will be the third increase in two years, as part of efforts to maintain the service.

Mr Stanley said that to leave a consultation period open-ended would be a retrograde step and could cause problems for An Post at a later stage and it was important to protect jobs and the five-day postal service.

“We cannot have things drag out endlessly. It takes an age to get anything done,” Mr Stanley said.

He described the amendment as a “timid” proposal not to have an open-ended process and said large Bills with “massive impacts” had been put through the House in a matter of hours.

Mr Kyne had opposed the amendment and said the timing of any consultation period was a matter for the independent regulator ComReg to determine.

He said ComReg had advised that it had very specific procedures for consultations and these were set out on its website. “I understand the length of consultation depends on the complexity of the matter.” The Minister said ComReg normally allowed four weeks for interested parties to respond.

“In the circumstances it would not be appropriate for the legislation to define a maximum period for consultation.”

Mr Stanley said however that while the Minister spoke of ComReg’s guidelines, “this House runs the show”.

He insisted: “we must make things more efficient and it is for us to make that decision. That is why deputies were elected to this House. We are the lawmakers.”