Post office body seeks deal

The organisation representing the owners of the Republic's 1,300 local post offices is willing to accept substantial closures once its members get a "suitable exit package".

John Kane, secretary general of the Irish Postmasters' Union told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that his organisation realised that the size of the network would have to be reduced.

"We would live with it provided people leaving are looked after," he told the joint committee on Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources.

The union's submission to the committee warns that post offices should be closed down in a structured, planned and voluntary way, with suitable agreed exit package for postmasters.

Mr Kane said that the union welcomed An Post's recently announced joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis, which will see the post office launching a full-scale financial services business.

However, he argued that it would not bring huge benefits to many of the union's members. He also pointed out that rules set out by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority prevent post masters from selling financial products.

Government business, and particularly social welfare payments, accounts for more than 70 per cent of transactions at local post offices. They are currently making around €18 million from this activity.

National Treasury Management work, such as the Post Office Savings Bank is worth €25 million and TV licence sales earn €12.7 million.

Mr Kane told the committee that some of his members are earning €8,200 a year from their businesses, while half of them earn less than €23,000.

The union's submission argues that the Government has no real policy in relation to the future of the post office network.