The quality of An Post's delivery service remained below targets last year, according to a new report from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

Overall, 85 per cent of priority mail was delivered within one working day throughout the State, a 1 per cent improvement over 2009 but well below An Post's 94 per cent target for next day delivery.

The survey which was conducted by Ipsos MRBI and based on a sample of 28,487 test mail items posted across Ireland, found that 99 per cent of all mail sent was delivered within 3 working days, as against a target of 99.5 per cent.

ComReg made allowances in its report for the extreme weather conditions that prevailed across the country in late November and throughout December which hampered deliveries.

The best delivery service was found to be local deliveries posted outside of the capital. Items posted from outside of Dublin to the capital performed poorest with a 79 per cent next day delivery rate, a figure that rises to 83 per cent when the adverse weather conditions are taken into consideration.

Commenting on the report findings, ComReg said "a significant deficit still prevails between actual performance and An Post's performance standard."