asked the Minister for Communications the reasons for the general deterioration in postal services in the past year; and the steps he proposes to take to improve the situation.
19.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Postal Services.
13.
asked the Minister for Communications whether the results of the November survey of the speed of postal delivery are available to him; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 19 together.
During 1988 An Post made major changes in the systems of mail handling in order to alter out of date practices. These changes were introduced side by side with a productivity scheme which resulted in pay increases for mail staff.
In implementing the new systems certain problems arose which resulted in a downturn in the speed of mail deliveries. These were exacerbated in late September-October when the end of the UK postal strike resulted in the receipt of 8,000,000 items of a mail backlog which delayed the processing of normal mails. Again in early January of this year there was a major problem in the mail which was due to serious absenteeism in the post Christmas period.
I have indicated to An Post that I am very concerned at the deterioration in the quality of service. An Post share my concern in this area and are taking steps to improve the situation. The company monitor the delivery standards by means of internal checking procedures and independent surveys. Recently An Post launched a restructured survey system and a market research agency are carrying out quarterly surveys, the results of which are being published. The first survey, carried out in November 1988, showed that overall, An Post achieved a next day delivery rate of 82 per cent for letter mail.
Neither I nor An Post regard this level of performance as satisfactory. An Post expect to improve their performance significantly in the current year.
The results of the surveys are being furnished to me and I will continue to keep the situation under close review.
Will the Minister make available to the House the regional breakdown of that postal delivery service? Could he indicate whether the performances in different regions were, to his knowledge, far worse than that overall average of 82 per cent?
There was a definite difference between, for example, Dublin to Dublin, Dublin to the provinces, the provinces to Dublin and the provinces to the provinces. It varies from place to place. I will arrange for the information to be made available to the Deputy.
Let me advise Deputies that I shall be proceeding to deal with Questions addressed to the Minister for Industry and Commerce in about two minutes.
Would the Minister agree that the productivity agreement and the new arrangements that were drawn up within An Post have proved to be totally unsatisfactory and have not worked, that the situation had deteriorated quite seriously even before the strike in the United Kingdom and that it is camouflage to blame that because, although it may have exacerbated the situation, things were already quite serious? Would the Minister agree that the kernel of the problem is that because there are no competitive market forces operating within that area it is impossible for them to get their house in order? Would the Minister agree that new proposals for the operation of postal delivery services within the country are badly needed?
I would not agree with that. I agree that there has to be an improvement on what is there. I would not agree that the union-management agreement was the root cause of this position. In the long term that agreement will lead to the benefit of An Post and this can only lead to the benefit of the community as a whole. In many areas An Post are doing an excellent job. There is a hiccup at the moment. It is just a question of sorting it out in An Post with management and union co-operation, and they are working on it.