AN POST'S record in next-day delivery of letters was significantly worse in Dublin than in the rest of the country in the first quarter of the year.
New data from the communications regulator shows that just 78 per cent of letters and small packages posted in the State were delivered the next working day. This compares to a target of 94 per cent set by postal regulator ComReg, and shows there has been no progress in the last year when the figure was also 78 per cent. ComReg, led by John Doherty, said it was "concerned" with the lack of improvement.
Although 98 per cent of mail was delivered within three working days, compared to a figure of 99.5 per cent set by ComReg, this figure dropped to 97 per cent for mail delivered within Dublin County.
Of mail posted in Dublin for nationwide delivery, 76 per cent was delivered the next day, compared to a figure of 80 per cent for mail posted outside Dublin.
Dublin also fared worse in items posted for local delivery. The next-day delivery rate in Dublin was 75 per cent, versus 83 per cent in the rest of the country.
ComReg conceded that service in Dublin may have been impaired by unofficial industrial action at two An Post delivery offices in Dublin during the period in question.
In response to the publication of the data, An Post issued a statement yesterday saying that "next-day delivery service remains our key focus and is at the very heart of An Post's national quality improvement programme".
The State postal company also pointed out that "new ways of working were still being bedded down in a number of the larger Dublin postal districts during the early part of this year".
