1 May 2013, 15:17
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications this morning held a detailed discussion with Christoph Mueller, Chairman Designate of An Post, on his vision for the company. Under the Programme for Government, those who are being proposed for appointment as chairpersons of State boards are required to make themselves available to the appropriate Oireachtas Committee.
1 May 2013
Committee Chairman Tom Hayes TD says: \" We thank Mr Mueller for a candid and wide-ranging address, in which he displayed how his experience and skills can contribute to a viable and vibrant An Post. We take on board Mr Mueller’s comments around the professionalism of An Post staff nationwide and that a motivated workforce would ensure the company would be able to respond to rapidly changing circumstances in how we communicate with one another. We heard that the volume of mail sent by each Irish citizen, at about 150 letters per year, is among the lowest in the EU. With letter volumes further declining, we acknowledge Mr Mueller’s observation that particular circumstances prevailing in Ireland make adopting successful models of postal services operating in other countries, problematic.
\"Committee Members pointed out that An Post is among the most trusted brands in the country. Mr Mueller said that underpinning that trust nationwide was the network of community post offices and postal workers. He mentioned that a degree of cross subsidisation was necessary to maintain what he termed ‘the last mile’ to customers across the country. A key challenge therefore was to assess how best to balance carrying the costs of this core service with the more profitable arms of the company.
“While Mr Mueller said that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to overcome the challenges faced by An Post, incremental improvements such as the introduction of postal codes and an increasing online retail trade had the potential to boost company finances. The Committee, for our part, will continue to contribute to ensuring the sustainability of the post office network, which has unrivalled reach across the country. In March we published a report which argued that the post office is about much more than the services it provides and called for an enhanced role for the post office network in the delivery of government services.”
For further information contact:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies
Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Dessie Ellis, Sinn Féin
Terence Flanagan, Fine Gael
Tom Fleming, Independent
Noel Harrington, Fine Gael
Tom Hayes, Fine Gael (Chairman)
Seán Kenny, Labour
Eamonn Moloney, Labour
Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
John O’Mahony, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Ann Phelan, Labour
Brian Walsh, Fine Gael
Senators
Terry Brennan
Sean D. Barrett
Eamonn Coghlan
Paschal Mooney
Ned O’Sullivan
John Whelan