Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

An Post is a commercial State body with its own board and management. Accordingly, operational matters are a matter for the board and management. These are areas in which I have no statutory function. As shareholder, however, I do have a strong concern about the ongoing commercial position of the company and I regularly liaise with the company in this regard.

The reality is the core mail business of An Post has suffered a major fall which has impacted seriously on the company’s revenue flow. In response, it is proactively seeking to keep costs down and diversify its business. Control of costs must, in particular, be rigorously pursued by the company in light of the continuing drain on revenue arising from the core mail business decline.

None the less, it is my strong objective that An Post remains a strong and viable State company, providing high quality services on a nationwide basis through a network of economically viable post offices. This objective is shared on all sides of the House. I must stress, however, that the company requires be in a sustainable and viable financial position to ensure this. An Post is a commercial State company and its strategy and decision making must be formulated in this context.

However, I firmly believe An Post has many strengths. It is a trusted brand and it also has the largest retail presence in the country. I have impressed on the company the need to exploit further its unique position in this regard. I have been supportive of its attempts to diversify its income streams and to win a wider range of commercial contracts offering higher margins.

I welcome the progress An Post has made towards diversification, including the announcement that following the decision of AIB to close several branches, an extended range of AIB services is available through post offices in the locality of the closures. This is beneficial not only to An Post as a commercial body but also to the local communities.

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Furthermore, in May last year I welcomed the arrangement between An Post One Direct and Aviva which saw 23 Aviva insurance branches become One Direct outlets. This not only secured some of the jobs that were at risk due to Aviva's restructuring but it further broadened An Post's portfolio of financial services offering to customers.

In the context of the public sector reform and service delivery agenda, I continue to engage with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and other Ministers in relation to consideration, as appropriate, of the post office network for transactional elements of the business of Departments and Government agencies. I have stressed to my Government colleagues that the network is ideally configured for over the counter transactions. I and my Department will maintain ongoing contact with the board and management of the company to work with them on our shared objectives in light of the challenging environment which they face.

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