The Government has decided to set up an inter-departmental group to look at future funding for post offices, following the publication today of a review of the sub post office network.
The review, carried out by Phil Flynn, found that 80% of counter business took place in the 400 largest post offices. The remaining 1,500 offices accounted for just 20% of transactions. It said the post office division made a loss of over £2.5m last year on turnover of £80m.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke, said the report painted a gloomy picture of the financial outlook for An Post's post offices division. She said it pointed out that losses were escalating and unsustainable not just in rural post offices but also in urban centres.
The Minister said she had commissioned the report against the background of the Government's explicit commitment to the retention of the rural sub post office network.
