The plan by An Post to scrap doorstep deliveries in order to save money has provoked a predictable and understandable response. Politicians of every hue have joined in the criticism and there is a serious issue at stake.
The daily postal delivery is one of the remaining threads binding rural communities together. For some in remote areas the arrival of the green van and the exchange of pleasantries may constitute the entirety of their daily contact with the outside world. To propose ending the service at a time when rural communities feel they are under threat as never before was bound to be controversial.
An Post can argue - with justification - that time is not on its side. The company is under pressure from the regulator to be more efficient and from its shareholder - the Government - to stop losing money. It estimates that savings of up to €20 million could be made in terms of labour and transport costs if doorstep deliveries were replaced by a system based around letter boxes. The figure would go a long way towards eliminating the deficit of €27 million that the company expects to run this year.
An Post can also make the point that its mandate is to run a modern postal system. It receives no credit or subsidy for the service its personnel provides to the community in the wider sense.
Another point in An Post's favour is that the cost of distributing post in rural areas is being driven up by the explosion in once-off housing in these areas. It is worth remembering that the right to develop in this fashion is stoutly defended by the very same lobbies that are now ranging against the post-box initiative.
None of this negates the legitimate concerns of those whose lives will be made more difficult by the measure. There is also the wider issue that once again it is the customer who seems to be paying the bill as An Post tries to get its house in order
Much of the heat has been taken out of the issue by the commitment from An Post to continue doorstep deliveries to the elderly and disabled as well as other special cases.
The real extent to which An Post's other customers will be discommoded by the move to post boxes is harder to quantify.
No doubt the inconvenience will be substantial for many living in rural areas but for the majority urban dwellers the consequences will be relatively minor given the proximity of most people's front door to their gate post.