An Post will begin to seal post boxes in the streets over the next few days unless there is a breakthrough in the escalating dispute, the company said yesterday.
As utility services and other businesses consider contingency arrangements for billing their customers, the Department of Social and Family Affairs has introduced special arrangements for payments by cheque during the dispute.
An average of 1.6 million social welfare payments are made each week, of which 180,000 are by cheque.
The postal service renewed its appeal to customers not to post any mail to or in Dublin city and county, and parts of counties Meath, Wicklow, Monaghan and Galway.
Other parts of the State remain unaffected currently and services such as parcels and packets are also unaffected. Business mail accounts for 80 per cent of the postal service's customers.
Close to one million items of mail were in the system over the weekend and were processed and delivered yesterday through the Dublin Mail Centre in Clondalkin, the largest sorting centre in the State. It normally deals with three million items of post.
A spokesman warned however, that "if we can't deliver the mail, there is no point posting it".
An Post has requested that no post be mailed to Bray, Greystones or Wicklow town, Carrickmacross or Castleblayney in Co Monaghan, Drogheda or Dundalk in Co Louth, and Navan or Kells in Co Meath as well as Dublin city and county.
Customers are also being asked not to post to or in Tuam or in Galway postal areas because of a separate unofficial dispute.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, wanted to reassure customers that "arrangements have been put in place to ensure delivery of their payment cheques and I hope to see a speedy resolution of this dispute".
Cheque collection centres have been set up at social welfare local offices in affected areas, where all cheques, including supplementary welfare allowance cheques, can be collected. The Department has asked customers to attend on the day after their normal payment day and they should bring photo ID and their PPS number.
The ESB said that customers who wished to obtain details of their account could phone 1850 372 372. Payment can be made to Paypoint outlets, post offices, ESB shops and AIB banks. A spokeswoman for Bord Gáis said contingency measures would be finalised over the next day or so.
Both AIB and Bank of Ireland have pointed to internet and phone banking as among the options open to customers to check their accounts, including credit card bills. An AIB spokesman said Banklink and laser charge cards would be held for collection at the bank's branches.
- Marie O'Halloran