Pádraig Delargy blasts ‘second-class system’ and '10 day delays', Royal Mail denies claims

Transcript

00:00Can I call you how I rise today to raise postal delays in Derry. On a recent visit to Royal Mail's

00:06sorting office in Derry, staff informed me that letters were sometimes waiting nine or ten days

00:11before they were delivered.

00:17Staff have noted that they were told to prioritise parcels, overtime has been curtailed, and that

00:25holiday periods are often uncovered, creating an untouched backlog of mail when staff return

00:30from leave.

00:32The resultant impact of a prioritisation of parcels is constituents missing vital hospital

00:37appointment letters, financial information and other time-bound and sensitive information.

00:43I therefore recently wrote to both the Consumer Council and to Ofcom requesting that they

00:48look into the following six critical issues impacting people in Derry.

00:53To what extent Royal Mail is meeting its public service obligation to customers?

00:58Number two, the potential health impact of missing vital hospital, particularly cancer, appointment

01:03letters resulting in delayed diagnosis and treatment.

01:07Number three, the potential loss of earning financial and impact of receiving financial

01:13and insurance letters significantly later than expected.

01:16Four, the potential judicial impact of missing jury service and pressing legal letters.

01:22Five, the potential financial impact of late bill or fine payments as a result of not receiving

01:28letters in a timely and efficient manner.

01:30And six, the impact on small businesses of not being able to effectively and efficiently

01:35send or receive letters in a timely manner.

01:39There are countless other issues which we could rehearse but this is about changing the system.

01:44It's about Royal Mail firstly recognising the problem and secondly putting in place strategic

01:50and robust measures to change.

01:52People in Derry will not accept a second class system from Royal Mail.

01:58People are often left waiting on vital healthcare letters which mean that they miss appointments, receiving

02:03the letters days after the appointment has taken place and our office has been contacted by

02:09people who are waiting on a cancer diagnosis, obviously and naturally worried about the impact

02:15that this will have on their treatment options.

02:17Ken Colia, it's also deeply unfair that our postal staff who work tirelessly in all conditions

02:25all year round are bearing the brunt of decisions taken by the management of Royal Mail.

02:31Royal Mail need to meet their public service obligations.

02:35They need to get mail out to people in Derry in a timely manner and they need to take responsibility

02:40at management level to make this happen.

02:42Goera maigit.