Vol. 442 No. 2
132 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the newly introduced postal service is having a detrimental effect on small businesses by virtue of the late morning postal deliveries; and the steps, if any, he intends to take to rectify the situation.
As I indicated in my reply to Questions Nos. 7, 10, 32, 72 and 77 on 30 March 1994, the changes in arrangements for distribution and delivery of mail in the Dublin area which were introduced in January 1994 gave rise to two main problems — the question of next day deliveries and the timing of deliveries in the Dublin area.
The latest figures available to An Post from the Market Research Bureau of Ireland for the week commencing 11 April 1994 show that overall 91 per cent of correctly addressed mail was delivered the next working day. This is the second month in a row where overall deliveries have exceeded 90 per cent and the company is now confident that by and large it has resolved this particular problem.
In relation to the time of delivery the principal problem was in the Dublin 2 area which has the highest concentration of businesses in the country. An Post made some further changes in this area recently and the service has improved considerably since then. Surveys of customers in the area now indicate that 94 per cent of business customers are satisfied with the time their mail is delivered compared to 22 per cent in March. Some 60 per cent of customers surveyed are getting letters delivered before 9.30 a.m. with only 13 per cent getting deliveries after 10 a.m.
An Post is continuing to monitor the position in this and other postal areas of Dublin and will endeavour to resolve any problems that arise to the satisfaction of their customers.
