‘Too early to say’ if Square post office will change to new location

IT IS “too early to say” if the post office in The Square, Tallaght, will change locations after it is acquired by a new postmaster, according to a spokesperson for An Post.

This follows on from an article in The Echo last week, where a member of staff from the post office said they had been told the post office would be moved to a smaller unit in The Square.

The staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, said that all of the staff had been told the post office would close and move within the next three to six months.

The post office in Tallaght is one of several post offices around the country which are in the process of no longer being run directly by An Post, and will instead be led by a postmaster.

An advertisement seeking a new postmaster to run the Tallaght post office was published on the An Post website in recent days, with a deadline of March 15 for applications from interested parties.

When asked about the potential relocation of the post office, a spokesperson for An Post told The Echo: “The office at The Square is being converted from An Post-run to being run by a postmaster.

“Too early to say how that will work out in terms of location etc.

“The new postmaster will in the coming days put forward proposals as to how they would plan to serve the local community with a post office.

“We just advertised the Tallaght contract and will have to access the various applications we receive.

“One option might be another location within The Square but too early to say at this stage.”

The staff member who The Echo spoke to last week also voiced concerns that staff have about being redeployed within An Post, as many of them live locally and could be sent to locations further afield.

In terms of the newly-run post office, if the staff were to take up posts there, they would no longer be directly employed by An Post and many of the staff, who have decades of service, were worried about how this would affect their pensions, and said redundancy hasn’t been provided as an option.

The An Post spokesperson said: “Equally in relation to staff one of the options they have is to be redeployed within the Dublin city post office network and that discussion is ongoing on an individual basis with them.”

Local People Before Profit TD, Paul Murphy has called on An Post to reverse their decision to no longer directly run the post office, and he detailed concerns that staff from the post office had raised with him.

“Workers in Tallaght post office have contacted me to complain that An Post are not being honest with them about plans to privatise Tallaght Post Office,” said Deputy Murphy.

“They are being told that nothing will change but this is obviously not the case as they will no longer be public sector workers employed by An Post.

“If they don’t want to work in the new privatised post office, the only other option they are being given is redeployment elsewhere with An Post, regardless of their personal circumstances in relation to access to suitable transport, with no redundancy option being offered.

“The Tallaght branch office is more than a post office.

“It is a community hub where time and help is offered to customers.

“Services can be talked through with the best options offered to people.

“That little bit of extra care is given by the workers to customers that need it.

“An Post must halt their privatisation plans and meet with workers’ representatives immediately.”