The Government must invest urgently in small rural post offices, postmasters yesterday told a large group of Oireachtas members.
In a well-attended briefing in a Dublin hotel, the Irish Postmasters' Union urged TDs and senators to safeguard the future of the 1,400 remaining sub-post offices.
The large number of politicians who turned up at the Buswells Hotel briefing took some by surprise. "I haven't seen the likes of it for a long time," said one Fianna Fáil TD.
The Government should pay a subsidy to keep unviable rural post offices open, in recognition of the social needs that they fill in many areas, the meeting heard.
Currently, An Post gets €50 million a year for handling social welfare payments, but just one-third of that is paid to the post offices that actually pay out the money.
Yesterday, the IPU said the Government and not An Post should decide on the company's network of offices throughout the State.
"The Government should ensure that the post office network gets a far bigger share of the fees received by An Post for the various contracts.
"If the situation for the Billpay contract is similar to the social welfare contract then the post office network is being seriously short-changed by An Post," the IPU told Oireachtas members.
Mr John McGuinness TD (FF, Carlow-Kilkenny) said one-third of the sub-post offices are not automated, while many postmasters are surviving on between €8,000 and €15,000 a year.
"The management of our post office network seems intent on allowing it to die of neglect. That should not be allowed to happen," he said.
The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dempsey, should intervene to protect the rural offices, Mr McGuinness said.
Backed by British government investment, the Royal Mail had opened post offices in churches, village halls and pharmacies, he said.
Expressing deep concern about the state of An Post's finances, the IPU said it must be brought back into profitability if it is to survive. The company's Post Office Division (Counters) made a small profit, but this figure was misleading because it was based on "the wholly unrealistic rates" paid to IPU members, it said.
The discovery in August 2003 that An Post had lost €46 million instead of making €1 million was a "serious indictment" of the company's management.
Expressing no opinion on the company's demand for 1,500 job cuts, the IPU said: "What is absolutely certain is that losses cannot continue."
