§ MR. W. REDMOND (Clare, E.)In the absence of the hon. Member for the College Green Division of Dublin, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is true that Mr. Phelps, Comptroller of Stamps at Dublin, is about to retire from the service of the Inland Revenue; if so, will he state the number of years Mr. Phelps has been in the service, and whether his contemplated retirement is on the ground of ill-health or of abolition of office, and if on neither of these grounds, then on what grounds is he about to take his pension; whether he can state, in case of Mr. Phelps' retirement, what arrangements are contemplated for the discharge of his duties as Comptroller; and whether he will see that the selection is made from amongst the officials in the Dublin Post Office?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTMr. Phelps, Comptroller of Stamps, retires on the 1st June next. He has served between 35 and 36 years. He retires in consequence of a re-organisation in the Dublin Inland Revenue Offices. The general superintendence of the business of the Comptroller's Office has, as a temporary arrangement, been, on the recommendation of the Board of Inland Revenue, assigned to their Inspector resident in Dublin.