Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 June 2004
55 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the information available to him on the pilot survey carried out by An Post on the possible use of roadside post boxes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19201/04]
View answerFollowing the decision of the Commission for Communications Regulation last year that postal customers cannot be forced to accept roadside letter boxes, An Post ran a pilot programme in the Sligo mail area from October 2003 to January 2004 to assess the extent to which households would accept roadside delivery boxes on a voluntary basis.
The company undertook a comprehensive programme of engagement with customers informing them of the pilot scheme and to encourage their participation on a purely voluntary basis. Despite this extensive programme, take-up was very low, with only 32% of the targeted customers, those with letterboxes more than 10 metres from the public road, volunteering to take a delivery box. Delivery costs are one of the biggest operational costs to An Post and it was anticipated that the introduction of roadside delivery could significantly reduce these costs.
However, on the basis of the results of the pilot, the financial analysis indicates that the cost of installing the boxes would exceed the savings generated. Accordingly, I understand that the board of An Post decided that the roadside boxes will not be installed in the pilot area and the customers who volunteered were informed of this decision. The company is currently considering the implications of the results for its programme of reducing delivery costs nationally.
