A subsiduary of An Post which sells e-mail technology to firms has shed staff and significantly scaled back its operation in Dublin because of slow sales since it was launched last year.

Post.Trust, which represented An Post's most significant advance in the technology sector since it sold its internet service providers to Esat Telecom for €146 million in 1999, will shift its focus from small- and medium-sized firms to corporates and the Government.

An Post confirmed yesterday that the firm had made seven of its nine staff redundant.

An An Post spokesman said small businesses were just not ready for the secure e-mail product which Post.Trust had developed. The lay-offs should be seen in the context of the technology downturn, he said.

An Post invested about €6 million in Post.Trust to develop Safemail, which uses security and authentication technologies such as public key infrastructure - a blend of software, encryption technologies and services which enables companies to secure their communications over the Net.

It is designed to ensure that e-mails can be sent securely within an organisation or to an external audience.