§ CAPTAIN DONELANOn behalf of the honourable Member for North Cork I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the attention of the Post Office authorities has been directed to the insufficient postal facilities afforded to Rathcoole district, Banteer, county Cork; whether he is aware that the mails are delivered in the district only four days weekly; and whether, in view of the strong representations made by the people of the locality, the Post Office authorities will give a six day delivery to the district?
§ MR. HANBURYThe attention of the Postmaster General had not previously been called to any insufficiency of the postal facilities at Rathcoole. He has now ascertained that application was made to the postmaster of Mallow, about a month ago, for a delivery on every week day. It is the fact that a delivery is only made on four days a week, and, according to existing returns of the amount of the correspondence, a more frequent delivery would not be warranted, but fresh returns will be taken. The Postmaster General is not able to give a final decision until such returns have been taken. It should, perhaps, be pointed out that owing to the rapid extension of the postal deliveries in Ireland under the "Jubilee" scheme, the surveying officers are greatly overworked, and it is unavoidable that delay should occur in dealing with such applications as that made to the postmaster of Mallow in this case.