§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the promotions officially notified on the 17th of January last to the staff of the Telegraph Department of the Belfast Post Office as about to be made have yet taken place; if not, what is the reason of the delay, and if it is due to local causes; and if he can state whether those promised promotions will now be declared?
§ *MR. RAIKESThe promotions at Belfast have now been made, and will date back to the 1st of February.
§ MR. SEXTONI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the appointments to the vacancies that arise upon the respective staffs, Postal and Telegraph, of the Belfast Post Office, are filled by open public competition or by nomination at the instance of the Postmaster of Belfast; if by the latter means, under what circumstances is such a privilege granted to the Postmaster; whether it is a fact that the power of making appointments by nomination to the Dublin Post Office, was, some years ago, withdrawn from Mr. Secretary Cresswell; whether examinations for vacancies in the Belfast Post Office are conducted upon the strict lines as laid down by the Civil Service Commissioners, and if such examinations are always held under the supervision of an irresponsible person; and whether directions will be given that all existing and future vacancies upon the respective staffs of the Belfast Post Office be filled by open public competition?
§ *MR. RAIKESTo all junior appointments in the Provincial Post Offices the local Postmasters nominate. This is in accordance with an arrangement made many years ago upon the recommendation of a Committee of Inquiry, of which the late Lord Iddesleigh and Sir Charles Trevelyan were Members. It is not the fact that this arrangement has been withdrawn from the Dublin Post Office, for the simple reason that it never existed there. Examinations for appointment to the Belfast and other Post Offices are conducted in accordance with the directions of the Civil Service Commis- 1260 sioners, and under the supervision of responsible persons. This existing arrangement, on the whole, is believed to work fairly well, and I am not at present prepared to alter it.