§ MR. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether a Petition from the out-door officers of Customs at Dublin and certain other Irish outports, praying that they might be placed on an equality with the outdoor officers of Customs in London, and forwarded during the last Session of Parliament, has been received at the Treasury; and, what answer, if any, has been returned to such Petition; and if it remains unanswered, what course the Lords of the Treasury intend adopting with reference to its prayer?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHSir, Petitions were received last year from the outdoor officers of Customs at Dublin and certain other out-ports in Ireland, on the subject referred to by the hon. Member. A similar claim has also been frequently advanced on behalf of the various out-ports of the United Kingdom; but the Treasury has uniformly declined to admit it, on the ground that the greater pressure and importance of their duties entitled the officers of Customs in London and Liverpool to a higher rate of pay than officers at out-ports. To this principle the Government continues to adhere, and the Memorialists would have been so informed had it not been that a Commission was appointed to consider the position of the Civil Servants generally, and it therefore seemed unnecessary to take further notice of a claim so often before considered and rejected.