An Post invests €1.6m in Parcel Plant Expansion

20 November 2006

More than 20,000 parcels are processed at the Portlaoise hub each day, comprising parcel mail posted in Dublin and Leinster as well as all incoming international parcels.  The 9000 sq ft extension to the mails centre brings to 43,000 sq ft the space devoted exclusively to parcel processing, an operation which involves tariff checking, barcoding, customs clearance (for international items) and sortation for onward despatch and delivery.

Speaking at the opening the Minister said: “With globalisation, liberalisation and developments in technology, all national postal operators including An Post, have to change very rapidly to stay competitive and commercial in the postal market.  This expansion sends an important message of intent that An Post remains committed to the parcels business in Ireland.  It also represents a tacit acknowledgment that this business has the potential for very significant levels of growth and that the company intends to be prepared to exploit this potential”.

The additional capacity ensures An Post’s ability to cope with steadily increasing parcel volumes. Internet and home shopping delivery solutions is just one area in which the company has yielded significant volume growth and this sector is expected to continue to perform strongly in the years ahead.

The centre also houses a 33,000 sq ft,  fully automated, letter processing operation handling mail posted in counties Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford; a local delivery services unit for Portlaoise and the surrounding area and a major Customs Clearance operation through which all incoming international mail must be routed for inspection.

An Post Chairperson, Margaret McGinley said that the company had invested more than €14 million in the Portlaoise Mails Centre since it first opened in 1997 and more than €110 million in the national mails infrastructure over the past 12 years: “This demonstrates An Post’s very firm commitment to this area and signals our intent to safeguard, maintain and grow our business.  We are very proud of the fact that the number of staff employed at this centre has grown from 80 in 1997 to 270 today,” she said.

An Post Chief Executive Donal Connell said that the company’s success in competing with the best of national and international competition in the parcel sector underpinned the requirement for an extended processing facility.  “The parcels sector is highly competitive and An Post’s business model now reflects this. Investment in postal infrastructure and people ensures our readiness for increased competition across both the parcels and letters streams. We’ll be driving further volume growth across both sectors by providing new and better services to our customers, and by helping Irish firms to get business done efficiently at home and abroad”.

Of the centre’s 270 staff, 60 work directly in the parcels operation. The centre first opened in 1997, was automated in 1999 and construction work on the plant extension began in mid-June.  Portlaoise works in tandem with automated hubs in Dublin, Cork and Athlone to make up An Post’s national mails distribution network.

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