Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fáil)

candidate EU elections
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• I would like to know if you support the liberalisation of the postal services.
• An Post plays a vital role in this local community in terms of the jobs and services it provides which must be protected. What steps will you take to ensure that this is the case?
• Can we depend on you to be a guardian of the public interest and vital public services?
• Do you think taxpayers should be forced to fund An Post in the future when it is run without state aid now?
• If not how do you propose to fund the Universal Service Obligation which guarantees that every citizen enjoys a proper postal service with collection and delivery five times a week with a single price to all destinations?

I would like to know a couple of things – Would you have still decided to run for Europe if you had to resign from the Dail and give up all salary from there and not been in a position to fall back on that if you do not get elected.

Also I would ask you if you feel that you letting down all the people who may have voted for you only short time ago to represent them at local level in your constituency in the Dail instead of doing a runner to Europe after only two years as a TD! It would seem to me that all the talk at the election to become a TD that you were fully focused on the concerns and interests of people in the constituency were at best disingenuous, I would contend that you are more interested in a political profile.

What are your thoughts on how the latest proposed amendments to the Irish Firearms Acts - as contained in the Criminal Justice (Misc.Provisions) Bill 2009 - contravene the EU directive on Firearms (91/477/EEC) by requiring all Irish firearms owners to only purchase ammunition or firearms from Irish registered firearms dealers instead of the current (and in force since 1964) laws that allow them to purchase from any registered firearms dealer in the EU so long as the appropriate paperwork is in place?