MR. O'KEEFFE (Limerick)I beg to ask the Postmaster General if his attention has been directed to almost daily irregularities of delivery of letters between Limerick and Fermoy, Kilworth, and other parts of the County of Cork; and, with reference to a reply from the Secretary of the Post Office, Dublin, dated 19th January, 1891, No. 1752, to a Limerick merchant—
That such complaints were due to late arrivals at Limerick Junction of the night mail trains from Limerick, and that the special attention of the Waterford and Limerick Railway had been called to such matters,will he state the result of such inquiry, and explain the cause of the delays on that railway?
§ MR. RAIKESThe irregularities in the mail service on the Waterford and Limerick Railway are attributed by the Railway Company to the difficulty in working their traffic consequent on the recent strike. Although the strike has been over some time, the irregularities, I am sorry to say, have not ceased; and the company, in their explanation, state that the new men whom they had to take on are unable to marshal and shunt the trains so quickly as the men formerly employed. This, however, seems hardly a sufficient excuse, and I have strongly represented to the company the necessity of taking some effectual measures for improving the service.