§ MR. T. J. CONDON (Tipperary, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether any arrangements have been made, or negotiations entered into, with the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company, in reference to the proposed acceleration of the mail service to and from the south of Ireland; and, if not, whether it is the intention of the Government to make such arrangements?
§ MR. HANBURYThe arrangements for the mail service in Ireland consequent upon the acceleration between London and Dublin are under consideration, but the chief factor in the problem, viz., the hour of arrival of the mail in Dublin, was left undetermined till so late a date that the Department has, up to this time, been unable to arrive at any decision in the matter. It is however the intention of the Postmaster General to call upon the chief Irish Railway Companies to adapt their mail trains to the altered Service, as soon as he has examined all the complicated matters involved in the alteration of the mail service over so large an extent of country.
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNOR (Liverpool, Scotland)On behalf of the hon. Member for Galway (Mr. J. PISKERTON): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, if his attention has been directed to a resolution passed by the Galway Town Commissioners, asking the Postmaster General to take steps for dispatching the outward Irish night mails immediately on their arrival in Dublin, which would give a delivery in London and all English business centres on the next day at an hour which would enable letters sent from the remotest parts of Ireland to be answered on the day of their delivery, thus saving 14 hours in receiving replies to Irish letters; and, whether he is predared to make such alterations as may remove the difficulties complained of, and prevent unnecessary delay in the transmission of letters?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has received a copy of the resolution referred to by the hon. Member, but, as the hon. Member is probably aware, very strong pressure has been brought to bear upon the Postmaster General by Irish representatives to fix not an earlier, but a later, hour for the departure 394 from Dublin of the day mail to England (which of course, carries the night mails from the Irish provinces), and it is to meet this desire that the Department, with some reluctance, fixed 7.10 a.m. instead of 6.40 a.m. as the hour of departure of the English day mail from Dublin.