Why I wouldn't invest my savings with An Post

At various times over the last 10 years (towards the end of, and since the crisis) I’ve scratched my head and really struggled to figure out how some state-sponsored financial institutions were allowed to get away with some of their practices. As a firm of independent financial advisors/financial planners, we are subject to the strict terms of the Consumer Protection Code 2012 – and rightly so. 
The terms with which we can give advice, contact people in the first place, advertise and fully disclose all our fees & product features are clearly set out, and subject to strict audit.
Yet, some much larger semi-state financial institutions do not seem to be playing by the same rules despite being direct competitors of other smaller financial advice firms, promoting savings & investment products in the same space. The National Solidarity Bonds that are being sold by An Post are what I want to concentrate on here. A relatively simple savings & investment product that attracts millions of euros of savings each month. 
The one that caught my eye was the 10 Year National Solidarity Bond offering 16% after 10 years. I have a few points that everyone should be aware of before they lock their money away for 10 years, which is a heck of a long time!
The 10-year National Solidarity Bond has an AER (annual equivalent rate) of 1.5%. The Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code stipulates that any institution advertising a deposit rate on a product must publish its AER. This is the only % that counts. Sure, the An Post website & literature does publish the AER but the 16% return is highlighted first, and in my opinion, is designed to mislead savers so that they get excited about the double-digit return. 
State Savings is the brand name used by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) to describe the range of savings products offered by the NTMA to personal savers. 
These products are offered by An Post acting as an agent of the NTMA. So, you are handing your money over to the Irish Government for 10 years when you purchase these products. Due to the global Central Banks actions to artificially keep interest rates low to try to stimulate economic activity, deposit rates in the Eurozone area are at historic lows, virtually zero. This will not persist forever and last week the Federal Reserve signalled an end to its policy of keeping long-term interest rates low. 
Economic growth in Europe is getting stronger so the European Central Bank may not be too far behind the US in raising rates in the next couple of years. Deposit rates are priced off the Central Bank rate by the Retail Banks. The long-term average is around 4% in Ireland. In a few years, when rates normalise then savers will kick themselves that they handed their money to the government to lock in a historically low rate until the end of the 10th year. 
Liquidity, i.e. access to your money. If you were handing your money to the government for one or two years then an AER 1.5% could be expected & accepted. 
If anyone is handing their money over for 10 years (into a savings or investment product) then the rate in normal markets would be anywhere between 5% & 15%, depending on the creditworthiness of the institution and the risk you wished to take. 
To conclude, this National Solidarity bond is the wrong price with the wrong term and unfortunately many savers are being duped by An Post/NTMA by the   DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax) free rate which will certainly look like poor value in the years to come.