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There are "far too many post offices" in the Republic of Ireland, according to the chief executive officer of An Post.
Speaking on Tuesday evening, David McRedmond said it is important to ensure An Post is a “profitable network that will last” and that difficult decisions will have to be made.
"We believe we're getting close to having a plan that will be viable, but that's going to be difficult and will involve difficult discussions," he told RTÉ's Prime Time.
“We have to sell the case. People will have to say we have to make decisions whether you’re a post master or whether you’re a union, we’re all going to have to face difficult decisions to ensure the post office network survives the future.”
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He said the company has 265 post offices near “no discernible area of population”.
“The Department of Social Welfare says everyone should be within 15km of a post office - 70 per cent are within five post offices - there’s far too many post offices,” he said.
He said the company would have to be “real and grasp these things”, adding that “if we don’t actually make the changes that are needed for the future to modernise, to be where people are, then the whole system will collapse.”
Mr McRedmond’s comments came a day after a row broke out between two Government Ministers after one accused the other of “throwing in the towel” on the future of An Post.
Minister of State for Rural Development Michael Ring was angered at what he saw was a deliberate slight from Minister for Communications Denis Naughten.
Mr Naughten alleged Mr Ring had "thrown in the towel" on the post office network. He was speaking on Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTÉ Radio on Monday. The Minister, who is an Independent TD for Roscommon-Galway, said the rural post office issue was something he was dealing with for a long time.
Asked what he meant by Mr Ring "throwing in the towel", he said responsibility for the post office was sent to Heather Humphreys and her Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs last July, where Mr Ring was the Minister of State.
Implying that not enough had been done, he said: “The idea was to rejuvenate and modernise it. Now that responsibility has been transferred back to me. I’m looking forward to it.”
In response Mr Ring told The Irish Times it was the second time in recent weeks that Mr Naughten had slighted him. He said he had never been given specific delegated statutory powers for the post offices.
He had asked Mr Naughten not to allow the price of a stamp to be increased until there was a full package of measures ready for presentation but Mr Naughten “couldn’t rush fast enough to give them the increase”, Mr Ring told RTÉ.
He also said that Mr Naughten had shirked responsibility, a reference to his departure from Fine Gael in 2011.
Mr Ring said: “It’s because I didn’t have statutory responsibility of An Post, I couldn’t make them decide on government policy. That has to be done by the Minister for Communications. That’s Denis Naughten. That’s Denis Naughten’s job.
“He’s like a lot of Independent Ministers , they’re trying to shirk their responsibilities. He has a responsibility. He has a statutory responsibility for An Post,” he said.