Unions warn post offices must be saved

Union leaders warned 140 TDs and Senators today that the fabric of local communities would be lost unless the Government stepped in to save post offices.

The Irish Postmasters Union told the Oireachtas members and three MEPs it was time the local shops were rewarded with subsidies for their role as public servants.

John Kane, IPU general secretary, said it was ludicrous that such a socially-important business could be run into the ground.

The union chief called for State hand-outs to reflect Government policy to retain post offices as a means of protecting and preserving rural life.

“While about 50% of the sub-post offices are additional to other businesses such as grocery shops, the other half are stand-alone and are the only source of income,” he said.

“Yet they are surviving on less than the minimum wage. Indeed, it’s worth noting that for many of the smaller offices their income is not even sufficient to cover the overheads and therefore its continued survival as a social service must be funded by the Government.”

Mr Kane said because of falling income levels the number of post offices had declined from 2,000 almost a decade ago to 1,400 today.

He warned that if public service obligation subsidies were not forthcoming then the future of 800 of the current 1,400 offices, which An Post reckons are not commercially viable, would be in grave doubt.

He added it was ironic that most of these offices were in remote rural areas where local people needed access to the range of services they provide.

Around 80 postmasters from across the country joined the lobby in Dublin to drum up support for those being paid less than €8,000 per year.

Mr Kane claimed the Government only had to look at the experience in Britain where radical steps were taken to save post offices.

In the United Kingdom a computer network was set up, offices were protected against closure and postmasters were guaranteed earning the minimum wage at least.

The IPU produced a postmaster's payslip for January. The net pay was €754, which gave him €188.50 per week, from which he paid running expenses for the post office including lighting, heating, rent, telephone and insurance.