The government could have saved at least 270 jobs and a lot of money at An Post if it had accepted a bid two years ago from global parcel giant, DHL, to buy its parcels division, SDS.

An Post this week announced its plans to close down the loss-making SDS.

But back in 2002, when the losses at An Post and SDS were not so obvious, DHL offered to buy the parcels company, though only if it could also get a stake in An Post, whose postmen deliver SDS parcels.

However, the government failed to grasp the chance, and turned down the offer from the US-based multinational.