An Post has high levels of sick leave among its staff, it has emerged.
A company spokesman, Mr John Foley, revealed the problem yesterday after complaints that mail had not been delivered to homes in one area of south Dublin for two days.
"We have a high level of sick absence even by our own standard. That causes a problem because people are not getting a service they require," he said.
He also said An Post had experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining staff at depots across the State.
There were no mail deliveries in parts of Dun Laoghaire on Monday and Tuesday and businesses in the Glenageary area were asked by An Post to collect mail from their post office.
Mr Foley said that when staff were on sick leave other postal staff would be asked to take on extra deliveries, but in this instance, because 17 of the 75 staff at the Glenageary office were on sick leave, all deliveries could not be covered. He said the backlog of mail to Dun Laoghaire was cleared yesterday.
"The problem is we have not been able to recruit people to do the extra work," he said.
He added that the workload of postal staff had increased enormously in recent years. The amount of mail which required to be delivered had increased by up to 9 per cent each year for the past five years, and carrying it was "strenuous" for walking or cycling postal staff in urban areas, he said. "It's the kind of regime that wears people out eventually."
Mr Foley said recruitment difficulties were more acute in Dublin and in cities such as Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford than in rural areas. "It's a factor of the improved economy. There is a diminished pool of labour available and in many cases people are more choosy. We have had difficulty getting people".