Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 September 2023
79. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to report on his most recent engagements with An Post management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41156/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Minister of State for being here. This question relates to any recent meetings he has had with An Post and any proposals or plans that body has to make changes and improvements into the future. I will also be bringing up the issue of publicity post in my supplementary questions.
I have engaged with the management of An Post on five occasions since I was appointed late last year. In addition to regular engagement between my office and An Post, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, last spoke formally to the CEO of An Post on Wednesday, 5 July at a meeting held in Leinster House. There is frequent and ongoing engagement with An Post management and staff at official level on all matters of mutual interest. This includes regular scheduled quarterly meetings and governance meetings, in addition to ad hoc engagement on issues arising.
The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. Meaningful engagement between the company’s management and Department officials is crucial as the company moves to put itself back on a stable financial footing after the combined impacts of Brexit and the pandemic. This engagement also helps An Post to develop strategies to grow its business against a backdrop of e-substitution of mail and the growth of a cashless society.
I thank the Minister of State. As I said, I am interested in the issue of publicity post. It is something I have raised with An Post. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that there are 272 separate delivery zones across the country. I am not sure when they were put in place but they seem quite archaic and arbitrary. Some of them cross county bounds and some businesses tell me they find them quite difficult to use. I have suggested to An Post that it should make them smaller, more targeted and more focused so that they could be used in a better way. Has the Minister of State discussed this with An Post in his discussions with the company and, if not, will he do so?
I appreciate the Deputy raising this matter. We briefly discussed it this week and, following that discussion, my office has engaged with An Post on the issue of publicity post. An Post informs me that it offers a publicity post service that allows businesses, charities and other organisations to have material delivered with the regular post. As the Deputy said, the service is split into 272 separate delivery areas, which can be used to deliver leaflets to a specific area to better target geographical areas. It has told me that there are no current plans to change these areas but that they are under constant review. It has also said that if there are anomalies, it is happy to look at them on a case-by-case basis. If there are areas in which there are discrepancies, the Deputy can pass details on to my office or to An Post, which is happy to engage on the matter, so that we can get him a more detailed response on any anomalies that may exist.
Does the Minister of State know when these particular postal areas were put in place? I have seen various dates like 1917, and so on, being mentioned. If the Minister of State looks at any map, he can see that in many instances these areas are arbitrary and unwieldy. There does not seem to be any rationale behind them. They cross county bounds. As an answer to the Minister of State's response, I could suggest that the whole country is an anomaly in this respect. I ask the Minister of State to encourage An Post to review the entire issue. When I brought this issue up with An Post in the past, I was told that it was reviewing the matter and that there were plans to make changes, but nothing happened. Businesses tell me that it is a very awkward arrangement. It should not be beyond the bounds of possibility now to make the change I am suggesting. If the areas could be made smaller and more focused, businesses and others, including politicians, could use the An Post service in a more focused and direct way. I ask the Minister of State to go back to An Post to have that conversation with it and perhaps encourage it to make this change. An Post is otherwise doing great work across a whole range of other areas, but this is the one area in which it is falling down.
I thank the Deputy and I appreciate what he has said. There are clearly discrepancies with respect to the feedback which has been given to him. We have engaged with An Post overnight and this morning. It is something I will raise with the company when I meet it again at the next formal engagement. I will try to get some of the history and backdrop to the publicity post service and the separate delivery areas which are there. Now that we have discussed the matter in the Chamber, I ask the Deputy to send me some specific examples of the discrepancies and anomalies which exist, as such details would be useful. This is not something upon which I have received regular feedback, to be honest, apart from what the Deputy has raised but I do not dispute the issue he has raised. I will be happy to raise it further with An Post.
