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The Irish Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has taken legal action against An Post, the country’s postal operator, which could result in a fine of €12 million for failing to reach delivery targets.



Steve Fitzpatrick, the General Secretary of CWU Ireland, described ComReg’s threat of a €12m fine against An Post as "an outrageous and wasteful attack by an unaccountable quango against An Post and the Irish postal service that will result in the loss of thousands of jobs."



Fitzpatrick stated: "As well as providing a vital public service throughout the country, An Post is a major employer with over 9,000 staff and this action by ComReg, aside from being a high profile to attempt to justify its own existence, will fatally undermine the viability of rural post and put thousands of jobs at risk."



He said the company is already struggling to make a profit as a result of a serious collapse in mail volumes. "It is truly incredible that the Regulator would decide that now is the time to impose a fine, without warning, that is several multiples of the profits made by the company last year. This is a wasteful and unnecessary distraction to the company and its workforce. It really does beggar belief!"



Fitzpatrick argued the legal action taken by ComReg was totally unjustified as AnPost, working with the CWU, has made huge investments in improving the quality of service which has led to year-on-year improvements in the service levels which are now very close to meeting the target of 94% next day deliveries.



In 2004, ComReg set the on-time rate for next-day delivery at 94% for single piece priority mail delivered within Ireland. The postal operator has been continuously improving its service quality in the last few years and its on-time rate during the nine months of 2011 was 84%.



Fitzpatrick said ComReg refuses to share information with the postal service on where its service levels are deemed not to be meeting its expectations. “Furthermore, ComReg samples just 30% of postal deliveries and completely ignores bulk mail which now accounts for most of An Post's business mail services."