THE CEO OF An Post was pretty “furious” on the radio this morning.

Fast forward a few hours and a Government minister was out on the news denying that he leaks from Cabinet. 

So why has a row broken out over An Post?

Well, it began with Cabinet ministers yesterday discussing An Post’s future.

Ministers were briefed that while profits were up in the organisation, there has been a fall off in mail. 

Ministers were told that the Department of Arts, Culture and Sport is to consider a number of proposals, including a system whereby post might not be delivered daily and there might need to a consolidation of distribution centres.

Senior ministers said their impression of the discussion was that next day delivery for letters was no longer tenable, but as one minister told The Journal today:

“An Post is always under pressure.”

The Irish Daily Mail also reported today An Post is facing a “dire financial situation”, alleging that cash reserves dropped below €1 million for the first time.

This, in particular, appears to have irked the An Post boss, David McRedmond, who picked up the phone to call RTÉ’s Morning Ireland while he is on his holidays in Italy.

He told the radio programme that he was furious over what he described as an “irresponsible leak” by “a Government minister” relating to the company’s finances.

“I’m here in Italy, on my holidays, I’m absolutely furious to read something like that,” he added.

“The results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we’ve ever had, over a billion in revenue for the first time. 

“They show that we grew our earnings from €38 million to €55 million. They showed that our net profit was €10 million,” he said. 

So annoyed was the An Post boss, that the organisation released its annual report early, publishing it today. 

A few hours after McRedmond’s radio appearance, O’Donovan, who is responsible for An Post, was out on RTÉ Radio One also, claiming that the leak did not come from him. 

He added that he is satisfied that An Post is in good financial standing.

What does the future hold for An Post? 

Debates around the future of the postal service in Ireland are not new.

For over a decade now, the organisation has been seeking more funding to keep post offices open and delivery services operational.

Just last month, An Post was before an Oireachtas committee making this very point. 

Redmond told the committee that he is “really confident about the future of the post office network”.

An Post exceeded €1 billion in revenue for the first time in the company’s history, he said at the time.

“There is always difficulty with mail volume decline but we are growing a load of services,” he said. 

Chairman of An Post, Kieran Mulvey told the committee that he had every confidence in the future of the post office, stating that An Post is “highly competitive”, particularly for parcels.

“That is a significant growth area for us. We operate on a multiplicity of fronts. It is not just about maintaining the post office network and the products that go through it. There is also the centralised delivery of mail parcels throughout the country, including Government services,” said Mulvey. 

Patrick Neary, Assistant secretary in the Department of Communications, said last month that the decline in mail and financial transactions “puts pressure” on ensuring that the organisation has new areas of revenue, through Government services and parcel delivery.

“We are working very closely with An Post on its strategy and future strategy. We are supported by other Government agencies in that engagement. To say what the future will be beyond five years is probably a little bit of a stretch for us now. I know An Post’s strategy, published last year, looked out for the coming five years and we are very much engaged,” said Neary.

What does the Taoiseach make of the row? 

The Taoiseach was asked about the back-and-forth between O’Donovan and McRedmond, stating that there was no discussion yesterday about An Post “being on the brink or anything like that”.

Micheál Martin said that the company turned a profit last year. 

“My main message here is we have full confidence in An Post. I have, as Taoiseach. I’ve witnessed first over the last decade, the manner in which the company has changed. And changed effectively, I believe, and has adapted very well to fairly disruptive change…

“The company has managed that very well and has managed its human resource change very well also. I was disappointed with the thrust of that story this morning because I don’t think it reflects the strength and resilience in the company.”

What next? 

Well, any funding An Post is looking for from the Government will be thrown into the pile of asks ahead of October’s budget. 

Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae told Newstalk today that the Government has an “obligation” to protect communities’ and its post offices. 

“If we don’t use it, we lose it,” he said, adding that everyone should use their local post office.