Vol. 439 No. 3
117 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications whether he has satisfied himself that the procedures for dealing with the theft of letters going through the post are adequate; if he will give details of these procedures; the number of investigations instigated as a result of complaints to An Post or on its own initiative in 1993; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under section 84 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 it is an offence to open, delay, detain, prevent the delivery of or tamper with a postal packet addressed to another person without the agreement of the person to whom the postal packet is addressed. A person found guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £800 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment. On conviction on indictment for an offence under the section, a person shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50,000, or to imprisonment for a term of not exceeding five years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.
When instances of possible theft are reported to An Post by a member of the public, or come to light as a result of internal monitoring by the company, the matter is referred to the company's own investigation branch for attention. Depending on the outcome of the investigation branch's inquiries it may be necessary to involve the Garda. If there was enough evidence to support a criminal prosecution a case on the matter would be prepared by the Garda for submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions. I am satisfied that these procedures for dealing with the theft of letters are adequate.
A total of 60 investigations into the possible theft of letters were carried out in 1993.
