Appointments missed and letters gone astray but An Post denies Cork service 'in meltdown'

'Elderly person sent important application form containing sensitive personal details by registered post, only to be informed that it has been lost'

Councillors have described it as “absolutely ridiculous” that internal Cork post has to go to a sorting office in Portlaoise and come back down to the county again.

Sick and elderly people are missing vital hospital appointments, some estates haven’t received post in more than two weeks, registered letters are going astray, and one man even lost his work permit after key documents were delivered extremely late.

Meanwhile, hard-pressed farmers are receiving milk cheques behind schedule, and small business owners say they have begun making their own deliveries because they no longer trust the postal system.

These are among a series of complaints raised by Cork county councillors, who say An Post’s service in the region is “in meltdown”.

They are formally requesting that Labour TD Alan Kelly, chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Climate Action and Communications, call senior An Post officials before the committee to explain the disruption.

Some of these issues were outlined in a joint motion from Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington and Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen, which prompted a string of other councillors to weigh in with accounts of what they described as an ever‑worsening postal service in the region.

Councillors have described it as “absolutely ridiculous” that internal Cork post has to go to a sorting office in Portlaoise and come back down to the county again.

Mr Harrington who lives in Allihies, said the village recently lost its post office. “The local post box was unavailable for over a month," he said.

"For a community already impacted by the loss of its post office, that's simply unacceptable.

"I’m aware of one man who sent a telescope worth thousands of euro by registered post back to a manufacturer for repair. It's since been lost and he’s been offered just €160 in compensation, a fraction of its value.” 

Mr Harrington added: “In another case, an elderly person sent an important application form containing sensitive personal details by registered post, only to be informed that it too has been lost.

"I also know a case of a man waiting on a work permit issued in early February, but was only delivered last week. As a result, he’s unable to travel as planned and had to forfeit a return ticket to Ireland because he didn't have the required documentation."

Mr Rasmussen claimed An Post is prioritising parcel deliveries over traditional mail and no longer has the staff needed to cope with the increased workload.

“The public don’t care what the issues are, they just want delivery of their post. The staff are getting abused in some cases by the public due to delays in deliveries and when I raised the whole issue with customer service and management some time ago as a public rep I didn’t even get a response,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Una McCarthy said one estate in her hometown of Carrigaline hadn’t received a letter in two weeks. “Yet I’m getting mail every day.” Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Mulcahy said An Post guaranteed delivery before Christmas if letters and cards were posted by December 21. “I have some constituents who didn’t get post until the middle of January,” he said.

Aontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue pointed out that 34 post offices have closed in Cork in the past 10 years, the biggest reduction of any county in the State.

Independent councillor Ger Curley, whose wife is a postmistress in Cobh, said postmen and women are exhausted and the situation will only get worse as An Post proposes to deliver up to 20m parcels next year.

In response, a spokesperson for An Post refuted the claim that mail services in Cork are ‘in meltdown’, pointing out that the national postal service has just experienced one of the busiest Christmas and New Year periods in its history.

He said that over the past 12 months, there has been a 50% surge in parcel volumes in Cork and throughout the country, alongside a 2% increase in new address points.

“While letter volumes have declined by 7%, the growth in delivery points means that our teams are delivering more and more complex items at a much higher capacity,” they added.

“We have also just come through one of the busiest periods in our history. Nationally parcel volumes were over 35% higher this Christmas and well into the New Year, with An Post handling 2m parcels and 3m cards weekly. Despite huge efforts from our staff, there were some delays and interruptions to services, for which we apologise.” 

They added: “An Post is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented growth, and this has required a significant realignment of our resources nationwide."

“But our priority is, as always, to ensure every household and business in Cork and across the country receives consistent, high-quality service. It is simply not the case that An Post prioritises parcel deliveries over letter post, as also claimed.” 

The spokesperson said that An Post has recently begun the process of hiring 300 additional frontline staff to meet strong growth demands and that “many of these postmen and postwomen” will be working in Cork.

“Already, 10 extra staff have come on board, eight in our Cork Distribution Centre (CDC) at Little Island and two at our South City delivery depot, with a further 20 due to take up duty shortly.” 

They added that they have also already increased operational working hours across CDC and at both the south and north city offices.

“However, we recognise that the increase in hours and the arrival of new staff means we are only now meeting the level of increase we are experiencing. Ensuring top quality of service in Cork is a priority for An Post.”