§ COLONEL NOLAN (Galway, N.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General if the labourers employed in the Engineers' Department of the Post Office Telegraphs receive £1 4s. a week in London when first engaged, but only 18s. in the country parts of Ireland; if 1s. 6d. a day for expenses is given to the London labourers when sent out of London, and nothing is given to the Irish telegraph labourers when employed at a distance from their homes; if railway passes to enable such men to visit their families are less freely given in Ireland than in London; and would he endeavour to raise the condition of the Irish telegraph labourer until it somewhat more nearly approaches the superior condition of his Metropolitan brother?
§ MR. A. MORLEYThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As to the second, it is the case that 1s. 6d. a day extra is given to men sent temporarily out of London when they cannot conveniently return to their homes at night. In Ireland it is rarely the case that a man has to be absent at night; but when the circumstances seem to call for higher pay, a suitable addition is made to the man's wages. I am not aware that railway passes are given in London to enable labourers to visit their families. As to the last part of the question, the conditions in London are different from those in the country parts of Ireland; and I have had no representation made to me that the wages in Ireland are insufficient.