An Post has said the number of post office closures is unlikely to rise above 161.
Yesterday, the company said 161 postmaster had applied for voluntary redundancy.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Miriam, An Post CEO David McRedmond said the closures will mostly be rural.
He said the closures will start from now and continue over the next six months.
Mr McRedmond said the company needs to make sure the network is viable and where there are two post offices within one or two kilometres of each other, closing one allows for the other to have enough business.
He said the good news is that 950 post offices are staying open and that An Post is there to serve rural Ireland.
"We are in many cases the last shop standing and it is very important we have a strong post office network," he said.
Mr McRedmond added that over €40 million will be invested in the network over the next couple of years and that they will also advertise for new post offices.
He also said they are launching a new range of financial services.
Mail delivery and collection services will not be affected by the closures, and all island post offices are being retained.
The list of post offices closing will be issued at the end of this month once the details are confirmed with each postmaster.
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