Vol. 412 No. 1
16 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the exceedingly high postage charges for small packages such as newspapers being sent to Great Britain from this country; and if he will recommend to An Post that a lower rate be charged so that Irish people in Great Britain can be kept up to date with news from Ireland.
An Post have informed me that they charge a special reduced postage rate of 33p per copy, irrespective of weight, for the posting of newspapers by publishers to Britain. This rate represents a significant reduction on the standard printed paper rate, which would amount to 64p for a newspaper of average weight. Reduced rates are also available to publishers of periodicals. This situation reflects An Post's consciousness of the need to promote the publishing industry's use of the postal service.
As the House is aware, An Post are currently in a loss-making situation and it would be unrealistic to expect the company to consider making any reduction in their postage charges at this time.
