§ MR. SHEEHAN (Kerry, E.)asked the Postmaster General, Under what circumstances is Mr. W. Ahern, Postal Surveyor of the Northern Division of Ireland, privileged to have his stationery office in Dublin, which is 40 miles beyond the limit of his district, instead of, as in the Southern Division, having it at some central town within his division; whether he is aware that all official correspondence from postmasters and other officials in the Northern District intended for Mr. Ahern, or any member of his numerous staff, has first to be forwarded to Dublin, and thence redirected to them wherever they may at the time be located in the division; whether great delay, amounting in some instances to several days, accrues to important communications from the present arrangement; whether, Mr. Ahern and his staff of five or six clerks are each absent from Dublin in the aggregate at least nine months of the year, and during all this time draw expenses at the maximum rate of their per diem allowance; and, whether, in view of the inconvenience to which this practice gives rise, and the expense that it entails, he will consider the advisability of having the head-quarters of Mr. W. Ahern transferred from Dublin to Enniskillen or Armagh, or some other town equally central within the district?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)Mr. Ahern's head-quarters were fixed in Dublin by order of the Postmaster General, who at the time considered Dublin the most convenient point, and as possessing an exceptionally good railway service. In the matter of correspondence there is no additional delay in consequence. On the occurrence of the next vacancy, the question of headquarters shall be further considered. He is not absent from Dublin more often than he would be from Armagh or any other place, and, during his absence can only draw the per diem allowance which the Regulations prescribe.