I thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirleach, for allowing me to raise an important national matter and I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Aylward, to the House. While he does not have direct responsibility for this area, I have no doubt he will take my points on board and ensure that action is taken.
The delivery of post in this country has become a second national lottery game because one does not know when, where or if the post will arrive. The deterioration of the postal services to, from and in Dublin in recent months is a national disaster. An Post is implementing a programme which will save approximately £9 million a year and this fact was mentioned by the Minister in the Dáil over a month ago. However, at what cost have these savings been made? Unfortunately, customer service standards have now dropped and businesses are suffering greatly. The reliability which was part and parcel of the service provided by An Post over recent years has disappeared.
Like many of my colleagues, I have received complaints from constituents, business people and from various people who depend on An Post for postal deliveries on a daily or weekly basis. It is criminal that vulnerable people such as pensioners have been denied pensions on a weekly basis because they did not arrive when they should have. Last week various semi-State pensions which were posted on Wednesday to people who were depending on them arrived only at lunchtime yesterday. This is not good enough even when one takes into consideration the national holiday last week. I ask the Minister to address this problem.
General medical practitioners have to endure long delays in the return of test reports and this causes unnecessary worry and hardship for their patients. It is time this matter was sorted out. Members of this House have also endured long delays and various notices relating to local authority meetings or matters which may arise here often arrive after the due date. This has nothing to do with our reliable staff, but with the inadequate system which now exists.
Over a month ago the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Cowen, informed the other House that the disruption of services had been remedied and that next day deliveries would be back to normal. Nothing could be further from the truth. Recently on RTE a representative from An Post boasted that the sorting of post was now untouched by human hands. However, it appears the computer has been programmed incorrectly or programmed not to deliver on time. Some people in the Dublin area are now getting deliveries at 5 o'clock and 6 o'clock in the afternoon, but not the following afternoon, which is an achievement. This is happening on a regular basis and I am sure letters to County Kilkenny, where the Minister of State comes from, are taking longer. It also takes six or seven days to deliver a letter from one part of Dublin to another. The Government is equating recent moves with its so-called efforts to create employment. Surely some of the £9 million savings could be used to ensure that other people do not leave their jobs.
Yet again men and women have been replaced in the workplace by machines, with the usual disastrous consequences. It is time for the Minister and the Government to speak to An Post. Recently Mr. John Hynes was quoted as saying that various matters were being sorted out. They have not been sorted out and the great computer which was meant to sort out the difficulties seems to have created more problems than it has solved.
In this day and age it is not good enough that individuals are suffering and businesses are being left in a quandary. In certain areas postmen are now saying that not alone are they doing what they did before the change over but they are covering extra area. Surely we will not have to consider the reintroduction of carrier pigeons. I ask the Minister to look seriously at the matter and come back to us on it. There is general concern and I would ask the Minister to communicate this to his colleague.
