HC Deb 22 March 1892 vol 2 cc1446-7
MR. GILHOOLY

I beg to ask the Postmaster General what length of time the principal clerkship in the Accountant's Office, General Post Office, Dublin, has been vacant; whether there were any officers in the Accountant's Office competent to fill the vacant position recommended by the head of the office; and, if any, why some one of them was not appointed; whether Mr. Parkinson's salary in the Accountant's Office will be £100 per annum in excess of the maximum allowed to the principal clerk there; whether the latest holder of the position now vacant in the Controller's Office had an official income of £490, although the maximum of the class is £390; what objection there is to allow Mr. Parkinson, whose salary is £500, to fill the vacancy and remain in the Controller's Office, where he has acted as chief clerk and assistant controller for many years, and thus remove the grievance which the transfer inflicts on the clerks of the Accountant's Office; will he state how long Mr. Parkinson has been chief clerk in the Controller's Office; and on what grounds he is considered better suited for the principal clerkship in the Accountant's Office than in the superior position which he has held in the Controller's Office?

SIR J. FERGUSSON

The principal clerkship in the Accountant's Office, Dublin, had been vacant about one year. I have already stated that the senior clerks in that office were not considered competent for that post; but I must decline to say what recommendations were made by the head of the Office. The Office was re-constituted on the seven hours' system, and all the clerks received an increase of pay for the longer hour of attendance. The reply to the third paragraph is "yes." To the fourth, the salary of the last holder of the place was £400, in addition to which he received an allowance of £90 for loss of fees. Mr. Parkinson is considered to be better suited for the duties of the Accountant's Office than for that of the Controller. He had been chief clerk in the latter office for 18½ years. I must decline to answer the last paragraph. The Head of a Department must distribute the staff in the way which he considers most useful to the Public Service.