Vol. 411 No. 7
238 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a charge of 32p per letter by An Post to customers who receive their post over the counter as opposed to it being delivered; and if he will arrange for An Post to exempt social welfare recipients from such a charge.
An Post have informed me that the charge arises as a result of the arrangements which the company must make to ensure that the individual customer's mail is located and extracted from the main postal stream during the course of the delivery process. Such arrangements give rise to additional costs for the company which must be covered by a service charge. The service is intended for occasional use only. In the event of a customer requiring An Post to retain mail for collection on an ongoing basis the company provide a service upon request for an annual charge of £32.
However, following the Deputy's representation and notwithstanding An Post's current financial difficulties, I have asked An Post to consider his suggestion in relation to social welfare recipients and to inform me of their deliberations. I will let the Deputy know the outcome as soon as possible.
