The Vote before the Dáil for the current financial year is £2,479,915, and the net revenue is estimated to amount to £1,748,980, leaving a sum of £630,935 to be provided by the Exchequer. The amount to be made good by the Exchequer does not, however, indicate the true financial position of the working of the Post Office Department, and in order to find the actual position we have to look to the Commercial Accounts which are prepared in my Department annually. The Commercial Accounts differ from the general financial statement in so far as they take into consideration items not provided for in the broad comparative statement of expenditure and revenue. Some of these items refer to superannuation payments which are treated on a pension liability basis. The main difference, however, lies in the value of work performed for other Government Departments for which the Post Office does not get cash remuneration. We perform for the various other departments many services, such as the conveyance of mail matter without prepayment of postage, payment of old age pensions, work in connection with unemployment insurance, etc., and these services involve, of course, extra expenditure, which is chargeable to the respective departments and not to the Post Office. A detailed list of such services is given in Appendix E of the printed Estimates, and their cost is estimated at £251,140. In giving this explanation I merely wish to make it clear that the working of the Post Office cannot be judged on the difference between expenditure and revenue, and that the true position can only be ascertained from the Commercial Accounts which are submitted for audit annually, and which are available for the Dáil.
On the Commercial Account basis, the loss on the Post Office Department in the first year of its working after the change of Government was £1,108,260, and in the accounts for the last audited year, 1925-26, the deficit was reduced to £413,967. It is anticipated that the deficit for the year 1926-27 will stand at the same figure approximately.
On assuming control of the Post Office Department, I had in mind, firstly, to develop the services which were regarded as being essential and helpful to the life of the country; and, secondly, to cut as far as possible the heavy loss on the Post Office, and as an ultimate aim to make expenditure balance revenue. In reducing the loss in the vicinity of £400,000, I believe that under present conditions everything has been done that could be. Internal economies have been effected where possible, and other economies, such as a reduction in certain nonessential and non-paying services, have also been made. Under existing conditions, it seems to me that it will hardly be possible to reduce further the present figure of loss unless by a restriction of public facilities, or by an increase in the rates charged for Post Office business. There are obvious objections to either course, which I feel sure will not commend itself to An Dáil. The Post Office has not been a self-supporting Department in Ireland, and while it can be made so, there are weighty reasons against adopting either of the alternatives mentioned in attaining that end as an immediate step. I think An Dáil will be satisfied with the gradual financial improvement which has taken place, will be content to proceed on normal lines in awaiting bigger revenue following the development of our industries, and in hoping for a reduction in the cost of living figure, which so materially affects expenditure in my Department.
The Dáil will be anxious to have some idea of how the loss on the Post Office is distributed over the various businesses, and on this I have ascertained approximate figures which show gains and losses as follows:—
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£
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The total loss, in round figures, as disclosed by the Commercial Accounts for year 1925-26, was
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414,000
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The Distribution of Losses was:
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(a) Postal.
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Gain.
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Loss.
|
|
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£
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£
|
|
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Letters
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258,000
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—
|
|
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Printed Papers
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—
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134,000
|
|
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Newspapers
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—
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62,000
|
|
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Postcards
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—
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9,000
|
|
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Parcels
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—
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90,000
|
|
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Registered Articles
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—
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175,000
|
|
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Money Orders
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—
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1,000
|
|
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Postal Orders
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—
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4,000
|
|
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258,000
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475,000
|
|
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Net Loss
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217,000
|
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(b) Telegraphs.
|
|
|
|
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Loss on Ordinary Telegrams
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£145,000
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|
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Loss on Press Telegrams
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18,000
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|
|
|
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163,000
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(c) Telephones
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34,000
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Total
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£414,000
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In the postal section it will be seen that the only gain was in the case of letters. On the other items of business losses occurred. The chief losses are in printed papers and registered articles. The loss on printed papers is largely due to the excess of circular matter from Great Britain. In registered articles we, too, dealt with a certain excess, but the loss under this head is in a measure due to the fact that the registration fee of 3d. is not sufficient to cover the cost of the elaborate, but necessary processes of dealing with mail items of considerable value.
I may explain that in the case of parcels and telegrams received from other countries, we are entitled to make a claim in respect of excess traffic, but as regards other postal items, such as postcards, newspapers, printed papers, etc., we are obliged, under the international conventions, to handle whatever volume of work is addressed to us. I may also explain here that in respect of parcels we get a substantial adjusting figure from Britain, in the case of Press telegrams we get a small amount, and in the case of ordinary telegrams the balance is against us.
During the past few years we reduced our charges on parcels, postcards, printed papers and telephones. In all cases the reductions have had the effect of increasing our loss, and the reduced rates did not respond as much as we anticipated in adding to our business. Except in the case of letters, our rates now closely correspond with those adopted in Britain, and if we were to reduce the letter rate to the British level it would involve an extra loss on the Post Office working to the extent of £250,000 a year. This loss would not to any extent be offset by increased business. While I would like to be able to accommodate the views of those who seek for a lower letter rate, I think it is clear that the facts of the case and the existing conditions are not such as to admit of any reduction at the present time.
I will now give the Dáil some idea of the amount of business which is transacted by the Post Office. In comparison with the figures which I gave last year, there have been increases in some directions and decreases in others, but on the whole the returns show that we have made progress, that the business is increasing, and it shows signs of further increases.
The figures are:—
TRAFFIC RETURNS.
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Posted.
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Delivered.
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Letters
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123,000,000
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130,000,000
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Printed papers
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33,000,000
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52,000,000
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Inland postcards
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7,000,000
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9,000,000
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Parcels
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4,800,000
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4,900,000
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Newspapers
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9,000,000
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10,000,000
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Forwarded.
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Delivered.
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Telegrams—
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|
|
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Ordinary
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3,283,000
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3,185,913
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Press pages
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41,058
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118,983
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Express Delivery Services—
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|
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Ordinary
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23,971
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Telephone
|
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777
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Total
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24,748
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Revenue from delivery fee 6d. on incoming parcels for year ended 31/3/27
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£28,127
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Total number of parcels
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1,125,080
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(A reduction of 168,720 on figures for 1926.)
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CASH-ON-DELIVERY.
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Year ended
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31/3/26.
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31/3/27
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Number of parcels dealt with
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4,673
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10,413
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Value of
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£
|
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Money orders issued
|
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5,477,503
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Money orders paid
|
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7,177,626
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Postal orders issued
|
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1,397,108
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Postal orders paid
|
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1,636,871
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Savings Bank deposits
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1,102,062
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,,,,withdrawals:
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|
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(Free State)
|
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951,791
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(British)
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826,012
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Postal drafts, old age pension, Army or other drafts paid
|
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4,425,321
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Savings Certificates sold
|
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734,286
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,,,,,,repaid
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143,104
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Rates collected
|
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160,793
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The gross total of moneys dealt with by the Post Office during the year ended 31/3/27 was
|
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£29,708,495
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As I have already reminded the Dáil, attention to the economic working of the Post Office was not allowed to overshadow the need for improvement in services where such could be effected. An inland parcels post cash-on-delivery service was introduced in 1924 in response to strong demands from Deputies and the general public. There has been a progressive growth in traffic since, and I am hopeful that in a short time the advantages of this service, which is so beneficially used in other countries, will be more fully realised and appreciated here.
There has been a further extension of the use of motor traffic for the conveyance of mails. Nine additional motor car contracts have been arranged, and the total of such services now is 87. Such services are working satisfactorily, and, as well as resulting in economies, they have made for improved postal services in the districts where they are established. Schemes for further extensions are under consideration.
Satisfactory progress is being made with the erection of the new General Post Office. The work was unfortunately much hampered and delayed by the recent coal and general strikes in Great Britain. It is expected that the public office will be opened about October next.
During the year 1926 contracts placed by the Department were allotted as follows:—
£257,214 on Saorstát manufactured articles.
£70,340 on British manufactured articles.
£53,418 on articles produced in other countries.
Particular attention has been directed to the need for telephone development. On taking over the service from Britain, the telephone system was inferior and very limited, and the number of telephones in comparison with population was very much below that of other countries. During the past year 102 telephone exchanges were opened, making the total 501 as compared with 194 in 1922. Of the new exchanges 20 have subscribers ranging from 4 to 51, and the remaining 82 have less than 4 subscribers each.
In the Vote now before the Dáil provision is being made for providing exchanges at 44 provincial towns. The first automatic exchange, with an initial and ultimate capacity for 1,440 and 4,000 lines, respectively, has been installed in the Ship Street portion of the Castle Buildings, and will, it is expected, be brought into use by the end of July. This will serve an area bounded on the north by James's Street, south by the Canal, Rathmines, east by St. Stephen's Green and Harcourt Street, and west by Inchicore. A second automatic exchange to serve an area bounded on the south by the Canal, Ballsbridge, north by Pearse Street, west by Harcourt Street and Dawson Street, and east by the Canal Docks, is now in course of construction. This exchange will have an initial equipment capacity for 1,800 and an ultimate for 6,000 lines. It will probably be brought into use before the end of the year. I may explain that the principle underlying automatic telephony is that of enabling one subscriber to get into direct touch with another without having to go through intermediate operators. The service will make for greater expedition in effecting calls and an improved service generally. Such a system has been in use in America, and is being more generally developed in England.
A total of 151 new call offices were provided, bringing the number up to 967, as compared with 592 in 1922. There was a net increase of 2,049 subscribers' stations during the year. Eighteen new trunk circuits with a total length of 503 miles of wire were erected. Provision is being made in the present Vote for the residue of the expenditure required for trunk services, Dublin to Dunboyne, Dublin-Edenderry, Dublin-Maynooth, Dublin-Mullingar, Killarney-Kenmare, Muine Bheag-Goresbridge, Monaghan-Belfast, Trim-Athboy. Eighty additional telephone circuits for the Gárda Síochána were provided during the year. Underground schemes have been completed, or are in course of completion, in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Killarney, Greystones, etc. An agreement has now been reached for the erection of many additional call office kiosks in Dublin. Kiosks have also been provided in Cork and Limerick, and call offices in cabinets or kiosks have been established at many railway stations.
As I have shown, the financial improvement in the Post Office since it was taken over in 1922 represents the amount of £700,000 a year. The belief has been formed that this improvement, or the greater portion of it, is due to retrenchment at the expense of the public services. I wish to make it clear that such is not the case. Only about 20 per cent. of that amount has been saved as a result of curtailed public facilities. And I wish also to make it clear that in the reduction of facilities we did not consider rural as apart from town areas, but made retrenchments general, and where it could be borne with the least inconvenience. It has been claimed that the people of this country should have equality of services whether they reside in a town area or a rural area. In a commercial organisation such as the Post Office, services cannot obviously be arranged on such lines. We have to arrange them on commercial and economic lines; we have to arrange them in accordance with the amount of traffic to be handled at a particular place or in a particular district, and we have to measure cost against revenue in considering all services, both large and small. That is the basis, and I think the only basis, on which any business concern could carry on. In this connection I think it is also right to point out that the cut which we have made in certain services is not necessarily a permanent cut. We have constantly under review all the mail, etc., arrangements, and where we find that traffic is on the increase and would warrant further facilities, or where there are special circumstances, we will not hesitate to provide such facilities as may be justified. This particularly refers to rural posts, some of which were reduced in frequency in the years 1923 and 1924. The number of posts reduced was not so large as has sometimes been represented. In all, about 15 per cent. of the posts were curtailed.
It has also to be taken into consideration that although we saved a certain amount in the restriction of services in one direction we expended a large amount on the development of other services, such as telephones, which are and will be of greater help to the people of this country. We have to appreciate that telephones will largely, if not entirely, be the future medium of quick intercourse, and we must provide facilities accordingly. The telephone service as taken over from the British was not developed—it was very limited in its scope and the plant was obsolete and unsuitable.
In the discussion of the Post Office Estimates last year several Deputies referred to what was regarded as an unfair system of levying charges for the delivery of telegrams in rural districts. I promised the Dáil that I would examine into the whole question. As already stated, there is a loss of £163,000 a year on the telegraph service. This works out at about 1/- a telegram. While, therefore, we make a charge of 1/- a telegram for transmission, it costs us 2/- to deal with. In the case of residents living some miles from a post office we have to pay for the extra cost of delivery, which, for a person residing five miles from a post office, would amount to 2/-. At present the delivery cost of 2/- in such a case is borne either by the sender or the addressee of the telegram. If it were otherwise, the position would be that the Post Office, in charging a shilling for a telegram, would have to expend 4/- in dealing with it. I am unable to see how, as a business proposition, that could be sustained. The porterage or delivery charges on rural telegrams are not any source of profit, they are intended to defray, and they only defray, the entire cost of delivery, by reason of the distance resident from a post office. In all cases the first mile is free, and the free telegraph delivery area is a scheme that is in force in many other countries. A free delivery, irrespective of distance, would work out as I have shown, inequitably. As promised, however, I examined the whole question with the view of seeing whether it was possible to modify the present system, but so far I have not been able to convince the Minister for Finance that a good case exists for any change in the existing arrangement.
There is no material difference in the amount of the Vote now presented with that of last year. An increase of £17,000 is shown, but this is more than accounted for in the fact that the current financial year contains 53 pay weeks as against the usual 52.
