Regulation in the Republic of Ireland
Under Statutory Instrument 616/2002 (the ‘‘Regulation’’), any postal service provider in the Republic of Ireland with an annual turnover of more than €500,000 is obliged to apply for authorisation from the Office of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to provide a postal service. DX Network Services Ireland Limited received confirmation of its authorisation on 24 March 2004.
As with the UK and other EU Member States, the European Postal Services Directive requires full market opening by 2011 at the latest. The Irish Government is currently considering the options for market opening before making the changes in the regulatory regime that are needed to comply with the European Legislation.
The postal market is one of the core infrastructure sectors of the economy and DX Ireland welcomes full market opening. The market needs to be opened up to competition in a thoughtful and planned way. Existing regulations are already severely impeding growth of competition from its current very low level, with independent providers forced to charge over twice An Post's price for handling 50g items. The protectionism in the sector is hurting the consumer in terms of choice, performance and price.