Brian O'Shea
Ceist:241 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the discussions she has had with An Post regarding the withdrawal of the PostPoint system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21693/01]
Written Answers. - Postal Services.
In view of the concerns expressed by the Irish Postmasters Union in relation to the PostPoint service, this matter was raised with An Post. In May 2000, An Post won a contract from Eircell to install and operate 4,000 credit card terminals in that company's network of ‘Ready to Go' agents. The implementation of this service, which was subsequently branded ‘PostPoint', has been under way since October last year and currently some 2,000 retailers have been connected to the service.
Had An Post not been successful in winning the contract, it would have been set up and operated by competitors. I am informed that such a service is already provided by An Post through the company's 1,000 automated post offices and this was considered crucial to its winning the contract. I am also informed that Eircell top-ups are available on an over the counter basis at non-automated offices.