economy stalls, so lets increase taxes? ;)

Oh they’re p*ssed off at getting complaints too… typical civil service

Charlie we are NOT civil servants, just ordinary PAYE workers, no benchmarking, no Croke Park. Legitimate complaints are fair enough but it’s the stupid ones that cause the trouble. Let me give you an example I deliver to a rural area a guy recently complained that he had moved house and he was not getting his post forwarded on to him. There were 2 problems there no. 1 he had told no one that he had moved and no. 2 he hadn’t put in a redirection. Another time someone complained that his parcel was damaged, the only problem was that the tracking number showed that it was a courier company delivered it.

You dont work for a state body?…. I didnt know An Post was privatised….. Civil Servant you are. Its easy to tell the difference, ordinary PAYE workers dont get the pensions you get… Oh and I agree I am to some degree stupid. Stupid because its me and every other private sector bozo that susidies those pensions. The total tax take paid by An Post workers does not even cover the pensions being paid out of it. In fact the entire tax take only covers 80%. So yes I am stupid. Stupid enough with my fellow private sector workers who has to make up your shortfall while you get to retire on easy street….

Oh and stop complaining about your customers… without them you’d have no job… Oh wait your in the public sector so I you’ll have a job regardless… Another difference between the private and public sectors…. We’re getting tired of carrying your sorry A$$

Check your facts Charlie back in the P&T days staff were civil servants, not anymore since An Post came into existence. Civil servants pay a lower rate of PRSI we pay full rate, civil servants aren’t entitled to state pensions, we are, we also pay into a pension. Staff don’t have any guarantee of jobs in fact the majority who were taken on in recent years were taken on on fixed term contracts. Also if you bothered to read my comment you would I wasn’t complaining about my customers. I was pointing out some of the stupid complaints that go in. How can I be at fault for a damaged parcel delivered by a competitor?

Oh ya by the way Charlie An Post isn’t a state body, it’s a semi-state commercial company.

Charlie just to let you know,I am a postman in my fifties,I have been a postman thirty years,if I reach retirment age I will get my full pension ie 50% of my basic pay which would be 276 euros a week.I will not be entitled to any money from the State despite paying PRSI for over 40 years,it’s hardly a fat pension.There has been a large drop off in mail volumes but the office I work in has seen a 25% reduction in staff in the last 5 years.

It’s not hard to see why An Post are in trouble. They need to restructure their service and make sure it works. I can send a parcel of up to 20kg anywhere in ireland for 6.50 overnight with full tracking via courier, with no restrictions on size or shape. An post on the other hand charge a similar amount for up to 1KG with a sliding scale upward for weights above 1KG. Tracking works occasionally.
For UK and other foreign services, prices are astronomical and even though they offer a “full” tracking service, for which you pay a premium, this tracking is not available outside the 32 counties. So what’s the point in the tracking service?
There’s a flat rate available for the UK and Europe via courier of 15.00 for up to 20KG parcels as well with full tracking. Couriers are private concerns with Management and staff that give a damn and as such they simply work.
An Post are not within an asses roar of being able to compete with these private couriers on either service or price. When they do restructure and are able to compete they will be in a different position, but until then, I’ll avoid the queues in Post Offices, enjoy a reliable service at a cheaper price and just wait on the courier to call and collect my goods for dispatch.

All the fleet is leased,and it’s the leasing company that sell them after a period of time,times do change but not always for the better

I did not know the fleet was leased, but the obvious solution is for An Post to either extend the lease term or to do a buy-back of what are obviously good, roadworthy and valuable vans. I’m sure we have a few mechanics in our very many local authorities who have gotten really good at Sudoku.

As an employer An Post have a duty of care to their employees, the post vans put up huge mileage over a few years and by not replacing them they would leave htemselves wide open for liability in the event of a crash with a van with substantial mileage. They would also be coming into the range where they become more expensive to maintain to a proper standard ( remember that a van constitutes a workplace and therefore the driver has a right to things like heaters working, etc ). These are worries not attached to a private individual buying when sold on.

I think it’s likely that many of those who purchased the ex-An Post vans did so for the very purposes of using them as work vehicles. They would clearly be bound by the same requirement for safe working environments as An Post workers, so I don’t accept that argument. Equally, if the cost of ownership was likely to exceed the benefits of same, they would now be off the road and not presumably in the hands of private business owners.

Or is it, as is more likely, that An Post workers want the shinier, newer, cleaner, spanglier vans and refuse to drive something which doesn’t have a 6-CD changer and MP3 port to keep their kids amused when they do the school run “on the way” to and from work?

Maybe I’m just too cynical…!

If somebody uses the van themselves they have no duty of care as it is their own van. Lots of these vans turn up round where I live and they are not used by companies, they are used by people who need a van to throw stuff in the back, not some budding entrepreneur. If they were being used by businesses they would have company names on the side.

Do they run the national lottery also?

Your right too john I forgot about that ! Maybe they know their gonna be outbid for the next one, so firmly setting their eyes on plan b…

And yet the Royal Mail are hiring more staff as online sales have boosted their business. When the Royal Mail admits to making money, you know there’s money to be made… TBH it’s a pain in the hole going to the post office these days. Waiting in line for 45 minutes to get a fecking stamp because the machine’s broken and no-one in the shops around town has any. ‘Tis no wonder people go with another option!

Reason we don’t have postcodes is because comreg wanted An Post to pay for implementing them. Why should An Post pay, it would only be of benefit to the competition. If DHL, UPS etc want postcodes let them pay for the systems needed to bring them in.

Surely a logical step for society would be for An Post, Private Couriers, GPS Companies, Taxi Unions etc to come together to fund a postcode system.

The efficiency of these services would sky-rocket but I suppose it is too much to ask for the end customer to be satisfied.

Oh I bet you know who’s footing that bill for sure…!

its finally happening as the world moves with technology email is becoming more popular faster and more reliable not to mention the significant cost difference

what are you talking about. ?? you post something today, it’s there tomorrow. in 35 years posting letters, not one has ever been lost. they can’t make other postal services such as the usps or uk post office function quicker. I think they do a great job. that paybill site is excellent also, I have been using it for years.

iv had a good few letters going missing..it is a unreliable and expensive method of contact..since I have moved to email for everything possible bar a few that I can’t.it is easy and always accessible for reference..move with the Times or they will pass you out..my postman says he is delivering less and less post…
the new vans were more than likely needed as repair costs were getting higher it makes sence to renew the fleet

Irish Commentators Welcomed British Banks like Bank of Scotland Halifax who undermined our banking system with the two edged sword of unregulated competition caused a property bubble and have left. Food retailing and Postal services next?

@tomnewnewman is a commentator not someone covering footy matches etc…?how can you blame English banks it was our banks that are shafting us

@vinnie – a commentator is somebody who comments, like people who right comment pieces and editorials for newspapers, magazines and other media outlets.

Danny & Professor it will be the tax payer who will pick up the bill for any statutory redundancy payment, the same as it would be for any other company. There seems to be a misconception out there that An Post receives money from the state but this is not the case. I am a postman and I am not covered by any Croke Park deal nor did I get anything out of benchmarking. An Post employees provide a public service but we are not public servants, back in the days of the P&T staff were public servants but not anymore.