The European Commission has failed in its action before the European Court of Justice which challenged the decision of the Government to award the contract to disburse social welfare payments through An Post.

The judgement announced today, Tuesday, November 13th, has been warmly welcomed by Independent MEP Marian Harkin who described the retention of the social welfare payments contract as vital to the sustainability of Ireland's rural post offices.

The Court found that despite the Government’s failure to advertise the social welfare payments contract, that the European Commission had failed to prove it’s case under current EU legislation.  “This has been a very important victory for the Irish Government and it will be a great relief to the operators of our post offices”, Marian Harkin said.

However she expressed concern that a more effectively mounted case by the European Commission could secure a different outcome in the future.  “The future of our rural post offices in particular will be at risk if An Post loses the social welfare contract in the future and there is an urgent need to evaluate today’s judgement to assess the threat which could emerge should the European Commission mount a more effective challenge in the future”, Marian Harkin MEP concluded.