An Post management is misrepresenting the development potential of the Irish postal market, the four postal unions said today.
The comment was made during launch of research claiming that the global postal market is growing and that Ireland, with one of the fastest growing populations and economies in Europe, also has opportunities to develop its postal volumes.
Launching an economic analysis of the Irish postal market David Begg, Ictu general secretary, said it was a formidable document that "challenges the conventional wisdom as to declining mail volumes."
Mr Begg said he had followed the "remarkable renaissance" of the British postal service and said that Ireland too, as the fastest growing economy has the kind of "conditions that a very successful postal business could be constructed in".
And he noted that the report does not advocate getting out of financial difficulties by raising prices.
An Post - A New Vision was commissioned by the An Post group of unions and was produced by economist Paddy Walley. It aims to identify opportunities for the national postal service. Contrary to the views of An Post management the report finds that the "mail market in Ireland is currently immature and underdeveloped."
In his report Mr Walley points to a growth in mail volumes of 11 per cent in Italy, 7.9 per cent in Finland and 3.5 per cent in Sweden last year. However, in Ireland mail volumes fell 1.3 per cent last year.
He said based on Ireland's population and economic growth a 10 per cent rise in mail volumes was realistic. Mr Walley said that postal services should go the same way as low-cost airlines and focus on growing volumes rather than raising charges.
He challenged the assumption that Irish mail market had reached maturity and that postal customers were migrating to the Internet.
Mr Walley said the experience in other countries was that the Internet opens up new revenue streams as people make purchases online.
He supported the proposed introduction of postal codes, saying this would assist growing postal volumes. An Post should also look at flexible pricing models.
He challenged the idea that An Post's labour costs were unacceptably high, saying they we eighth among EU member states.
Tom Geraghty of the Public Service Executive Union said that if a State body is asked to meet social obligations, as An Post is, then the State should be asked to pay for this service.
He noted that the cost of meeting these obligations has never been quantified. Mr Geraghty said the State was getting these services for free at the moment and there was nothing in the European Union's postal rules to prohibit the State remunerating a service provider.
The unions plan to send the report to every politician, SME organisation and third level institution in the State to stimulate debate on the future of An Post.
