This is a very short technical Bill which has two purposes. The main purpose is to amend section 56 and 57 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983, so as to give the full effect of the original intentions of the sections to transfer certain legal liabilities from the Minister, the Minister for Finance and the State to the newly established statutory companies. That amendment is required to have effect from 1 January 1984.
Sections 56 and 57 of the 1983 Act were intended to transfer to An Post and Bord Telecom Éireann, as appropriate, all liabilities attaching to the national postal and telecommunications services in respect of claims and court proceedings arising from events that occurred before 1 January 1984 but which had not been settled before that date. As Senators will be aware, the two companies took over the operation of those services on 1 January 1984. Similarly, the benefits of claims being made or actions being taken on behalf of the services and which had not been settled by 1 January 1984 were intended to pass to the companies. The purpose was to provide for continuity of these claims and proceedings, and as from that date all the necessary staff and records were transferred to the companies to deal with those cases as well as with all cases arising after 1 January 1984 from their own operation of the services. That was accepted by the interim boards, An Bord Poist and An Bord Telecom. It is a perfectly routine and logical section in the Bill.
However, I am advised that as worded, sections 56 and 57 transferred liability to the bodies only in cases in which the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was a party. The effect of this was that, contrary to the intention of the legislation, the sections did not transfer liability in cases which arose before 1 January 1984, in which the State itself, or the Minister for Finance, was a party. Two principal classes of claims are involved. The main example of the first is where negligence had been attributed to the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in relation to road works arising from cabling operations. The second class relates mainly to cases in which negligence arising out of the driving of departmentally-owned motor vehicles had been attributed to employees of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.
Sections 2 and 3 correct the defect in the 1983 Act by transferring liability — and benefit, where it arises — in all such cases to the appropriate company with effect from 1 January 1984. Section 2 also makes provision for the cost of any settlements made in such cases since 1 January 1984 to be borne by the appropriate company. Cases are in progress in regard to that period.
It is estimated that some £1.3 million could be involved in these cases, of which about £1 million would be in respect of the telecommunications service, the balance affecting the postal service. In the nature of things, many claims are not made or cases do not come to attention until quite some time after the event and this obviously makes it very difficult to forecast the costs involved. The general estimate is that it is of the nature of £1.3 million.
Because of the defect in sections 56 and 57, the Chief State Solicitor and his staff have had to deal with cases since 1 January 1984 in which the State, or the Minister for Finance, was a party. They will continue to do so until this Bill is enacted. It is, therefore, necessary to recover the expense involved in those cases from An Post and Bord Telecom Éireann, as appropriate, and section 4 of the Bill provides accordingly. Again, straightforward compensation for the Chief State Solicitor and his staff for work on these cases since 1 January 1984.
Section 4 also provides for the Minister for Finance meeting certain claims covered by this Act in the highly unlikely event of either company failing to pay up on foot of a judgment against it. That is a routine precaution.
The second purpose of the Bill is simply to empower the Minister for Communications, as successor to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, to repair any errors and omissions in the list of staff designated by him in December 1983 under section 45 (1) of the same Act, for employment by An Post or Bord Telecom Éireann as from 1 January 1984. Section 5 deals with that and amends section 45 (1) to enable the Minister to make any necessary corrections. In an exercise involving some 30,000 staff, spread over very many locations around the State, it was perhaps inevitable that errors and omissions would arise. Thus, section 5 is simply a technical provision. In other words, under the existing legislation it was found that we could not amend the list. In many cases there were just typing errors of one sort or another involved. In smaller post offices people were not certain whether they were employed by An Post or Bord Telecom Éireann. I can assure the House — this assurance I want to give very strongly because it is something that was involved very much as this was going through the Dáil — that all the safeguards and guarantees provided for the transfer of staff in the 1983 Act are not interfered with in the slightest. They are all existing. I understand that the boards have been in contact with the trade unions with this explanation. The point was raised in the Lower House but no difficulties arise in that respect. I can assure the House absolutely on that. It is merely enabling corrections to be made in a list of staff, involving about 30,000.
As will be clear from what I have said, the Bill is a technical one which is required to make to the 1983 Act certain modifications which have been found to be necessary. Naturally there is a certain amount of urgency about the Bill to get the whole thing on a proper basis and I am most desirable to have it enacted at an early date. I commend the Bill to the Seanad.
