An Post has blamed administrative strains for a delay in returning the savings of deceased depositors to their next of kin.
The company admitted it was experiencing such delays following a claim by Labour TD Mr Sean Ryan that it could take up to six months for monies to be released, "thereby impeding executors in the performance of their statutory duties".
Mr Ryan, a TD for Dublin North, said a family in his constituency had complained to him about a delay of "six-seven months" which had caused them great anxiety. "It's holding up the dispersal of the will and they're getting very, very worried.
"I'm sure it's not an isolated case," he added.
Mr John Foley, head of communications at An Post, said the delays resulted from "extra pressures" caused by new legislation on dormant accounts.
Staff in the the company's savings section have had to deal with a large amount of correspondence relating to the law, under which deposits in accounts which have not been activated for 15 years will be diverted to the National Treasury Management Agency.
"All of that correspondence has to be dealt with by the same section and that has added to our problems," said Mr Foley.
It used to take about a month for An Post to repay the deposits of deceased persons. Now it took an average of 45 working days, he said.
"It's too long but we are trying to get it down to about a month again."
While he said he was not familiar with the case in question, and nor could he comment on it, "it does not take six months" for the repayment to take place.
Mr Ryan questioned the Minister for Communications about the issue in the Dáil this week, asking whether the necessary resources would be made available to the relevant sections of An Post.
However, Mr Ahern said it was "a day-to-day matter for the board and management" of the company, in which he had no statutory function.
Mr Ryan said he had already made contact with senior officials in An Post about the matter, and would be pursuing it further. "Where administrative convenience takes precedence over customer service it's not good enough," he said.
