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Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Politicians come worst out of a row over An Post's finances
The axiom that the cover-up is often worse than the crime in politics is generally associated with the 1970s Watergate scandal, which saw the resignation of Richard Nixon as US president. Applying it to the brouhaha over the question of who trashed An Post at Cabinet this week is open to the accusation of being unsporting and using too much gun. But at the same time we have a Cabinet Minister accusing one of his colleagues of leaking details of a briefing he gave on An Post in a deliberately damaging way. The report in the Irish Daily Mail suggested Communications Minister Patrick O'Donovan told Cabinet that the company was on the brink of collapse, with cash reserves of less than €1 million. The paper said that, without the revenue generated by election-related mailing, the company would have made a loss last year. The report so annoyed An Post chief executive, David McRedmond, that he interrupted his holiday in Italy to go on Morning Ireland and paint a different picture : one of a company in rude good health. He said the accounts presented to Cabinet showed revenues of €1 billion for the first time and net profits of €10 million. READ MORE O'Donovan promptly followed him on to the Claire Byrne show on RTÉ radio and somehow managed to agree with McRedmond that the company was in good shape, without saying that the Irish Daily Mail story was wrong. Instead, he turned his ire on his Cabinet colleagues, accusing one of them of leaking a distorted version of his briefing. 'But how a nameless minister or alleged nameless minister or source or whatever, would conflate that [his briefing] into saying this, the situation is dire. I don't know how they will come up with that.' If we take O'Donovan at face value – and we have no reason not to – he has made a very serious allegation that one of his colleagues deliberately broke the law in order to damage a State-owned business that employs 10,000 people, and which is one of Ireland's most trusted brands. And the potential damage is significant, according to McRedmond, who warned it might cause big global customers to lose confidence in the business. As ever the question is: why would someone do this? It is no secret that there are different views on An Post in Government. The briefing document for the incoming Minister in the Department of Public Expenditure, which was released earlier this year, makes the following observation: 'An Post's financial position remains extremely challenging. Mail volumes continue to decline and new services such as parcels are more competitive and hence lower margin. Significant existing State support means there is some ability to address sustainability, but this is limited.' [ Ireland's economic plans threatened amid 'sobering' outlook Opens in new window ] There is no suggestion that the new minister, Jack Chambers , leaked the details of O'Donovan's briefing. His department's position is pretty much word for word the most recent assessment of An Post carried out by New Era, which provides financial and commercial advice to minsters and their department on semi-state company holdings. It is a somewhat different picture from the upbeat one pained by McRedmond, but it is not hard to reconcile them. McRedmond was brought in from the private sector to run An Post in 2016, having previously worked in TV3 (now Virgin Media) and Eir. The focus in the private sector is essentially short term. The future cannot be controlled, and the most important thing is this year's figures. If you were not optimistic you would not be in business. McRedmond said as much on Morning Ireland in connection with the once-off revenue associated with election mailings that flattered last year's figures. 'Yes, we got a big boost from the elections last year, but if it wasn't the elections, it would be something else,' he said. The public sector takes a longer-term and more conservative approach, as epitomised by New Era's assessment of An Post's prospects. McRedmond's sangfroid on its own is not going to cut it for New Era, when it comes to recommending that the Government accede to his request for more capital and higher borrowing limits. McRedmond wants this to further An Post's transformation into a delivery business competing with giants such as DHL and UPS. [ David McRedmond: 'An Post has been brilliant. I've never been remunerated less and enjoyed a job more' Opens in new window ] It is still somewhat baffling why leaking details of a Cabinet meeting would enhance anyone's position in this debate. It's possible, of course, that it's more cock-up than conspiracy. The story was really a nothing burger and only took off after McRedmond's performance on Morning Ireland, which was followed up by O'Donovan's accusations on Claire Byrne. It would not be the first time that the leaking of a titbit to a newspaper had spiralled out of control. But the situation remains that a Government Minister has publicly and emphatically accused an unidentified Cabinet colleague of breaching confidentiality and leaking confidential information in a nefarious manner. That is something that has to be taken seriously.
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Taoiseach expresses ‘full confidence' in An Post
The Taoiseach has expressed 'full confidence' in An Post, adding that Cabinet has had no discussion about the organisation 'being on the brink'. It comes after reports claimed that Arts Minister Patrick O'Donovan told Cabinet colleagues that the postal service would have seen a 'substantial loss' last year without revenue generated by general and European election post. Advertisement An Post chief executive David McRedmond described the reports as 'utter garbage' and said the company is 'performing extremely well'. An Post chief executive David McRedmond (Niall Carson/PA) On Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed confidence in Mr McRedmond and the board of An Post. Mr Martin said he could understand the chief executive's 'anger and annoyance' over the reports on the company's accounts, adding: 'What happened was wrong.' He told reporters: 'I'm not apportioning blame anywhere, I simply do not know.' Advertisement However, he said: 'There was no discussion about An Post being on the brink or anything like that. 'The company turned a profit last year and had improved its situation significantly from the previous year.' Mr Martin described An Post as a 'very effective company' that under Mr McRedmond's leadership had 'adapted very well to changing trends' in mail, postage and packages. He told reporters: 'In terms of the core business, the company has been very resilient in the face of fairly fundamental change of behaviour. Advertisement 'There will be challenges ahead, and (the) importance is to be able to identify changing behaviours and changing trends, and then position the company to deal with that.' Mr Martin said the overall picture for the company was 'better this year than last year'. Earlier, Mr O'Donovan said he is confident about the future of An Post, describing the company as 'viable and profitable'. Arts Minister Patrick O'Donovan (Niall Carson/PA) Mr O'Donovan presented the postal service's annual report to Cabinet on Tuesday. Advertisement Following claims that An Post is in a 'dire financial situation', Mr O'Donovan said that the postal service has been transformed in recent years under the leadership of Mr McRedmond. Mr O'Donovan said: 'The issue here is quite actually extraordinary. A set of accounts was brought forward by me yesterday to the Cabinet meeting, and I'm not going to breach Cabinet confidentialities because I'm constitutionally prevented from doing that, as is everybody else. 'But obviously somebody decided that that wasn't going to be the case.' Mr O'Donovan told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne programme that An Post has returned to profit following some challenging years. Advertisement 'One of the things that has been conflated as well in some of the media reports, which isn't helpful either, and I think David McRedmond set the record straight, as people are conflating An Post with the independent postmasters. 'To be quite honest about it, it is showing, particularly from some politicians, a lack of understanding of what An Post is and a lack of understanding of what an independent contractor who works for An Post is.' Mr O'Donovan added: 'But how would a nameless minister or alleged nameless minister or source or whatever, would conflate that into saying that the situation is dire. I don't know how they would come up with that.' Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1, Mr McRedmond said he was 'absolutely furious' by the claims. 'That report is utter garbage. I'm here in Italy, on my holidays, I'm absolutely furious to read something like that,' he said. 'The company presented its results. The results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we've ever had, over a billion revenues for the first time. 'They showed that we grew our earnings from €38 million to €55 million. 'They showed that our net profit was at 10 million. The company is performing extremely well. 'We've got the highest level of parcel growth of any postal operation in Europe. So I just don't understand it.' He rejected claims that without profits generated from last year's general and European elections, it would have made a substantial loss. 'It's just simply not true, and it's not how companies work. Yes, we got a big boost in the elections last year, but if it wasn't the elections, it would be something else, and with the elections, we've huge costs with them,' he added. 'It was irresponsible leak from a Government minister, which is wholly unacceptable. 'These are not the actions of a responsible shareholder. The company is doing really well.' He also rejected claims that cash reserves have fallen below one million euros. 'We have at the end of the year with 38 million cash reserves, and this year, so far this year, we are performing well ahead of our budget, and our budget for this year is to beat last year. 'I'm talking to Government about it. I hope there's just some big misunderstanding somewhere, and the company, as I say, is doing really well.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
An Post chief ‘absolutely furious' at Cabinet leak as Taoiseach expresses ‘full confidence' in company
An Post has insisted its company balance sheet is 'strong, with little debt' following media reports saying Cabinet was briefed this week on a bleak financial situation facing the organisation. The State's postal service has said its finances and business strategy was 'seriously misrepresented' in parts of the media. As a consequence it published its annual results in advance of a planned announcement later this month. The 2024 annual statement shows its revenue exceeded €1 billion, representing a 10.6 per cent increase from 2023. Is debt reduced by €5 million to €34 million. An Post chief executive David McRedmond expressed his fury on Wednesday at an 'irresponsible leak' by 'a Government Minister' on the finances of the company. READ MORE Patrick O'Donovan, who holds one ordinary share in the company as Minister for Communications, later denied he was the source of the leak and insisted An Post is a 'very viable' and 'profitable' business. Reports in two newspapers said Cabinet was told on Tuesday that An Post would have made a substantial loss were it not for significant one-off revenue generated from election-related post last year when general, local and European elections were held. Mr McRedmond said this is 'simply not true'. 'It was an irresponsible leak from a Government Minister, which is wholly unacceptable. These are not the actions of a responsible shareholder. The company is doing really well,' he told RTÉ Radio 1 on Wednesday. 'I'm absolutely furious to read something like that. The company presented its results; the results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we've ever had, over a billion in revenues for the first time.' [ An Post €3 million branding campaign is first since 2019 Opens in new window ] Mr McRedmond acknowledged that An Post received a boost from the elections last year but said that if it had not been the elections 'it would be something else'. He also denied a claim that the organisation's cash reserves fell to below €1 million. Later, Mr O'Donovan denied he was the source of the leak and he said he agreed with comments made by Mr McRedmond that it was unacceptable. The Fine Gael Minister said he brought An Post's accounts to Tuesday's meeting and would not break 'Cabinet confidentialities'. He added that Mr McRedmond is 'absolutely right' and that 'An Post has been transformed over the last number of years under his leadership'. Asked why someone in Cabinet would brief journalists that An Post is in an 'awful state', Mr O'Donovan replied: 'Maybe if the person who said that put their name in the paper, you should be asking them.' In a statement, An Post said it is a 'self-sufficient' State company, receives no Government subsidy and 'never has'. [ David McRedmond: 'An Post has been brilliant. I've never been remunerated less and enjoyed a job more' Opens in new window ] The company has reduced its debt 'significantly in the past two years' – by €48 million – including the repayment of a Government loan of €30 million from its own resources, it said. 'At December 2024 year end the company had spare cash resources of €38 million and undrawn bank facilities of €30m, ensuring it had working capital facilities for its trading operations.' Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the leak 'wasn't good for the company'. 'I can understand [Mr Redmond's] anger and annoyance at what he read today, and I'm not apportioning blame anywhere, I just simply do not know,' he told reporters. 'What happened is wrong ... There was no discussion around An Post being on the brink, the company turned a profit last year and had improved the situation significantly from the previous year.' Mr Martin said his 'main message' was that the Government had 'full confidence' in An Post. 'So I was disappointed with the thrust of that story this morning, because I don't think it reflects the strength of innovation and resilience that is within the company,' he added.
BreakingNews.ie
7 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
An Post boss criticises Government's 'irresponsible leak' on finances
The chief executive of An Post, David McRedmond, has expressed his fury at what he described as the 'irresponsible leak' by Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan into the finances of An Post. Media reports had said that Mr O'Donovan briefed the Cabinet on the bleak financial realities facing the state's postal service. The Cabinet was told that without the significant once-off revenue generated from election-related posts last year when general, local and European elections were held, the organisation would have made a substantial loss. Advertisement That was 'simply not true', Mr McRedmond told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland. 'Look, this is utterly irresponsible reporting. It was an irresponsible leak from a government minister, which is wholly unacceptable. These are not the actions of a responsible shareholder. The company is doing really well. 'I'm absolutely furious to read something like that. The company presented its results, the results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we've ever had, over a billion revenues for the first time. They showed that we grew our earnings from €38 million to €55 million. They showed our net profit was at €10 million. The company is performing extremely well. We've got the highest level of parcel growth of any postal operator in Europe. So I just don't understand it.' Election boost Mr McRedmond acknowledged that An Post had received a boost from the elections last year, but said that if it had not been the elections 'it would be something else". Advertisement 'Yes, we want more cash because we're growing so fast, because we're growing in commercial parcel markets. We used to get paid for everything up front when people buy stamps. We're now in a commercial parcel market. We get paid on 60 or 90 days credit. We are constantly growing. So we need more working capital. We talked to government about that, but this is all coming from a position of strength. 'The thing that annoyed me about the report is it talks about a report from New Era, a report from somewhere. They're all just reports of reports. I have audited accounts. It's a wholly different level of a wholly different standard.' 'Untrue' cash reserves claim Mr McRedmond also denied a claim that An Post's cash reserves had fallen to below €1 million. 'That's untrue. So our cash reserves we have at the end of the year we have €38 million cash reserves. And this year, so far this year we are performing well ahead of our budget and our budget for this year is to beat last year. So I just don't understand this. I don't know or understand what the purpose of it is. I don't understand why they'd want to say these things. ' Advertisement Mr McRedmond said he had two concerns – the 10,000 employees of An Post 'reading a wholly garbage article this morning when the company that they worked really hard for is doing really well, and they've been so disrespected by this. Nobody's thanked them for what they did during Covid, it's so disrespectful". 'And the other is our customers, because we have big global commercial customers. And if they read this morning, that An Post is on the brink. They're going to think, well, maybe we should go with someone else. So it's reckless in the extreme. 'I'm talking to government advisors. I hope there's just some big misunderstanding somewhere. And the company, as I say, is doing really well. Yes, I am very clear that we say we want our borrowing cap lifted, which was put in place in 1984. "And so it's way out of date. And we need greater flexibility on our working capital. We need some things like that. We want government to approve certain changes to regulations. These are normal conversations as I say, coming from a position where the company has had one of its best years. Advertisement He added: 'We have no plan to close post offices. None. No plan. We occasionally relocate or we do something. Very occasionally, post offices will close because somebody retires and we can't get somebody to replace them. "But the post office network is doing well. And it will continue to do well, but quite rightly, quite rightly postmasters are saying to government, you want us to do more government services, pay us for them, pay us an economic rate for them. And that's what the postmasters are saying to government and we support them in that. But no, there's no threat.'
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
O'Donovan to visit Arts Council in wake of controversies at State agency
Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan is due to visit the Arts Council today in the wake of several controversies and issues at the State agency. Mr O'Donovan will meet a select number of staff at the national art agency's Dublin city centre office. The Minister is understood to have wanted to meet the Arts Council before the Dáil recess after several months of public controversy for the body. The meeting comes as the Data Protection Commission (DPC) has confirmed it has written to the council after concerns were raised about personal information collected from artists applying for grants. It had emerged that concerns had been raised within the council that sensitive personal data may not have been stored and handled in line with General Data Protection Regulation requirements. READ MORE About 1,700 people had applied for a bursary earlier this year via a form that collected information about an applicant's gender, ethnicity, sexual identity and religion. The data protection concerns became public following the release of internal council emails to news website The Currency. Stephanie O'Callaghan, the creative arts director at the agency, had warned colleagues that artists had raised concerns about the questions asked during the application process. The Data Protection Commissioner has now written to the council seeking more information about the issue. In a statement, the Data Protection Commission said: 'The DPC made contact with the Arts Council last week in relation to this matter and we are currently engaging with them. We are not in a position to comment any further at this stage.' It is the second time in recent months that the council has come to the attention of the DPC. It was claimed that a former employee had taken files from the council office in a separate alleged data breach. Feargal Ó Coigligh, the secretary general at the Department of Culture, ordered the council to carry out a review of the incident. In February, Mr O'Donovan revealed that the council had spent €6.7 million on a botched IT project, with almost nothing to show for it. The project was designed to reform the system that the council uses to receive and process funding applications from artists. The doomed project was finally shelved towards the end of 2023 with an estimated loss of at least €5.3 million.
