McRedmond confirms An Post contract extension offer

The Government has offered An Post chief executive David McRedmond a three-year contract extension after weeks of speculation about his future in the role following the controversy over the appointment of a new director general of RTÉ.

Speaking to reporters at An Post’s new headquarters in Dublin’s docklands on Thursday, Mr McRedmond said he expects to remain in situ at An Post after being offered a three-year extension by the Government.

Asked whether he will be staying, he said: “I think so. Look, there was a well publicised job and that was when I had not been offered an extension of my contract here. So it’s not surprising I would take a look.”

However, he said that now he has been offered a three-year extension, “I expect to be here”.

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“It was just waiting for Government to do that, for approval of the extension and I’m grateful and honoured to be asked.”

Mr McRedmond, whose initial seven-year contract with the postal operator expires later this year, was interviewed for the top job at RTÉ earlier this year.

A decision to rule him out early in the process was subject to leaks of a board meeting called to rubber-stamp the appointment of former deputy director general Kevin Bakhurst to the role emerged. Mr Bakhurst was later appointed to the role.

Mr McRedmond was speaking following the release of the postal operator’s 2022 annual results. An Post incurred a loss before exceptional items of €27.4 million, up slightly from €26.3 million in 2021. Adjusted earnings before deductibles at the semi-State, however, increased 15 per cent from 2021 to €18.6 million.

Losses after exceptional items, meanwhile, ballooned to more than €224 million last year from €37.8 million due to a one-off accounting charge relating to An Post’s pension pot, which was €666 million in surplus at the end of last year from a deficit of €440 million in 2014.

“Members 10 years ago in the financial crisis accepted that they’d have to take a cut to benefits and the company had to increase its contribution to get it back into surplus,” Mr McRedmond said. “Then the investments have done very well so we have a strong surplus. But what’s going to happen to it? We’re giving members back some of what they forewent and we’re really pleased to do that and the company’s contribution falls from about €45 million to €25 million a year.”

Revenues at An Post were relatively stable year-on-year at €880 million despite a 68 per cent decline in parcels coming into Ireland from Britain due to new, post-Brexit customs rules, which Mr McRedmond said were effectively creating “a border around Europe”. He said: “We work with customs, we’re finding certain solutions, but the issue is that this is going to lead to further problems.”

Mr McRedmond said that An Post’s transformation programme had been “reignited” last year as the impact of the pandemic on postal operations subsided.

He said the company had signed a National Transformation Agreement with its unions earlier this year, which will give An Post a free hand to find make changes and cuts where necessary in return for employee benefits and guarantees of “good pensionable pay”.

Mr McRedmond said An Post, which employed more than 10,104 at the end of last year, will look to shed a further 1,000 full time employees over the next years, having shed around 350 in the past year alone.

“There’ll be no compulsory redundancies. That’s just an efficiency target as such,” he said, adding that some of the reductions will be natural due to An Post’s “ageing workforce”.

Peter Quinn, chief financial officer, also ruled out any further increases in the price of stamps this year. “We did announce an increase that’s coming in from businesses in September but it’s not significant. But stamp price [increases], are not on the cards this calendar year.”