Ms Carol Bolger:

Mr. McRedmond was interviewed on "Today with Claire Byrne" yesterday and he said that what is happening is maddening and is anti-postal. The customs rules have been in operation in Ireland since July, although they will not be mandatory until the end of next year. We have adopted them in Ireland and our customs service has taken them on board. This means that customs duties are payable on items coming in from non-EU countries and obviously, with the UK in that category now, this is causing a lot of angst for customers. Mr. McRedmond argued that the rules are anti-postal because they require small consumers to take action that they do not know they must take. People are supposed to use new forms but they are not aware of them. When they put something through the Royal Mail, they do not realise they need to do something else and ultimately, the parcel does not get to its destination. That is the problem, put simply.

Our CEO would be able to articulate this much better than me but in its simplest form, the rules have changed. I would stress that around 90% of parcels are getting through because the big e-tailers are aware of the rules. We have worked with them but it is impossible for us to work with everybody who might send a small parcel through the post. We cannot communicate with every grandmother sending a parcel to a grandson or every aunt sending one to a nephew or niece. We are doing our very best, along with Royal Mail, but it is messy, complex and hugely frustrating. It is taking up a lot of time in An Post which is costing us money. It will resolve itself over time and certainly by the end of 2022 but at the moment, we are caught in the middle. We are doing everything we can to ease the burden on customers but the duty is payable. As Mr. McRedmond said, it is the law and we must collect the duty. We are not, as an organisation, going to break the law but unfortunately, it is causing a lot of angst for customers and for some Irish consumers.