Postal problems - It’s time for An Post to deliver

ANYONE who ever railed at An Post will feel vindicated by the latest study depicting Ireland’s postal service as one of the worst in Europe for on-time deliveries.

Rubbing salt into the wound, it also reveals that stamps cost more here than in most other EU states. Only Italy, Finland and Sweden have higher postage charges for standard letters.

Those awaiting the proverbial cheque in the post will derive little solace from statistics showing that only Greece, Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania had worse mail delivery performances in 2005.

Over a quarter of all mail posted within the Republic is not delivered on the next working day and just 73% of letters are delivered on time.

These figures take on added significance in a country where use of the mail service is still above the EU average despite the growing popularity of e-mail and text messaging. An Post has a very long way to go before it achieves the target of delivering 94% of post on time.