The Labour Party MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa has described as a "victory for common sense" a vote in the European Parliament yesterday rejecting sweeping privatisation of post offices.
Mr De Rossa said he welcomed the vote that substantially revised European Commission proposals which would have threatened the future of post offices across Europe. MEPs, he said, had voted to "water down" a draft directive produced by the Commission in May seeking to privatise European postal services after January 2003.
"This was a victory for common sense over conservative economic dogma. Postal services are of vital economic importance to Ireland and the rest of Europe. They employ 1.7 million people, carry 135 billion separate items a year and generate a turnover of over u €60 billion or 1.4 per cent of Europe's total GDP."
The post office and postal service, he said, was crucial to the vitality of rural, remote and sparsely populated regions and disadvantaged urban areas.