Only 76 per cent of regular post reached its destination within a working day during the third quarter - 18 per cent behind the target set by the telecommunications regulator ComReg. Edward Power reports.

While this represents a marginal improvement over the 73 per cent rate achieved in the previous three quarters, it is now statistically impossible for An Post to reach the 94 per cent target laid down by ComReg for 2003.

It is vital that An Post improves its performance during the busy pre-Christmas period, said ComReg chairwoman Ms Etain Doyle.

The regulator has also asked An Post to revise its code of practise for reimbursing customers in the event of loss, damage or undue delay of post. It has given the company a month to come up with new proposals.

An Post acknowledged that while progress has been made in delivery time, further improvement is necessary. "We are pleased to see that the quality of service figures are moving in the right direction but they remain far below what we want them to be. We are confident we can change this next year," said a spokeswoman. The other recommendations would be studied, she added.

An Post is in serious financial difficulty, with an expected trading loss of €47 million for 2003, and a further €39 million deficit predicted next year.

The company has implemented a recovery plan, requiring 1,000 to 1,500 redundancies, which it hopes will return it to a break-even position by 2005.

Earlier this month, An Post took the unprecedented step of assuring the public there will be no repeat of last year's pre-Christmas delays when teething troubles with new processing equipment in December caused widespread disruption.