Strike action hits welfare services
Welfare services throughout Ireland have been severely disrupted due to unofficial industrial action by counter staff at post offices.
The action has led to the closure of a number of offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Monaghan and Mayo.
Mail deliveries were unaffected, but the strike caused severe disruption to the issuing of social welfare payments.
An Post said anyone who receives social welfare using a book can still go to their nearest sub-post office, where staff are believed to be working normally, but people who receive unemployment benefit using a swipe card may have been "badly affected".
The Communications Workers Union, which represents counter staff at An Post, said its members took the unofficial action in protest at post office closures.
The CWU said counter staff have grown increasingly worried about their jobs following a recent decision to close a post office in Midleton, Co Cork.
Fine Gael Cork East TD David Stanton today called on An Post and the Communications Workers' Union to hold talks in an effort to end the postal dispute in Cork before it escalates any further.
