A six-point plan aimed at rejuvenating Ireland’s post offices is to be put forward at the postmasters’ annual conference in Westport next month.
Post office owners are awaiting An Post’s proposals in the wake of recommendations from McKinsey Consultants which they fear could earmark more than 500 rural post offices for closure. McKinsey was hired last year to conduct a “a root and branch review” and advise An Post on the future of its business.
This followed a report on the post office network commissioned by the company from businessman Bobby Kerr. His report, published in January last year, stressed the need to create additional branch business. It did not put numbers on branch closures, but referred to the possibility that some postmasters might want to retire.
Mr Kerr was later asked to devise an implementation strategy which he delivered to the company late last year. It has not been published, but a spokesman for An Post has confirmed a figure of “about 80 retirements was mentioned” in discussions arising from it.
An Post chief executive David McRedmond recently told an Oireachtas committee an action plan arising from McKinsey’s recommendations would be available “come May”. He said “there will certainly be a significant number of closures” of rural post offices, but it was An Post’s ambition that every village of more than 200 people would have access to a branch.
Irish Postmasters’ Union general secretary Ned O’Hara has invited Taoiseach Enda Kenny to join Minister for Communications Denis Naughten at the Westport conference. He warned the union would call for the resignation of the Taoiseach if leadership is not shown on the future of post offices.
The conference is expected to hear calls for postmasters to stand against Government candidates in the next general election if large numbers of rural post offices face closure.
Sustainable future
Mr O’Hara said postmasters are seeking a sustainable future for the maximum number of post offices, with delivery of all appropriate government services through the branch network.
The six-point plan includes capital and current investment in the network, greater use of post offices for social protection payments and the immediate introduction in post offices of motor-tax payment facilities and other state and community services. The plan also envisages standard bank accounts being available through post offices.
It proposes the setting up of a working group including postmasters, An Post and the Government to examine a number of issues, including the appointment of postmasters as peace commissioners for verification of legal documents.
Mr O’Hara said it could not be left to An Post to make decisions on the future of communities in rural Ireland purely on the basis of its commercial mandate.
Mr McRedmond told TDs and Senators that many communities had as many as five post offices to choose from within a radius of 15km. He said the future would involve “consolidation” of post offices and “co-locating” offices within supermarkets where a higher volume of business would be transacted.
