MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the attention of the Postmaster General has been called to the condition of matters in the Dublin sorting office, where, owing to the small numbers employed, there is pressure of work, and between 6,000 and 7,000 letters, etc., the correspondence of the merchants and citizens of Dublin, are mis-sent each month; whether he is aware that, owing to the present postal arrangements, the English parcel mail via Holyhead, reaching North Wall about 6.45 a.m., does not arrive in the parcel sorting depot until 9 or 9.30 o'clock, thus occasioning delay in delivery; that sorting clerks working under pressure and against time, in consequence of insufficient evening staff in the letter sorting department, notwithstanding, are punished with extra work if they mis-send thirty-one letters per month; and that a similar course is not followed with regard to all offenders, an official found guilty of supplying wrong records against a postman (the postman thereby being deprived of his increment and a stripe) only losing a contemplated promotion; and whether he will cause an inquiry to be made into the alleged grievances.
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has ascertained that there is nothing unsatisfactory in the condition of the Dublin sorting office. Extra staff is provided whenever it can be foreseen that pressure of duty may require it, and arrangements are contemplated for making a small permanent addition to the numbers employed in the evening. It is not the case that anything like 6,000 or 7,000 letters a month are mis-sent. In administering punishment every case is considered on its merits, and suitable allowance is made if the conditions under which the work is done are abnormal. The Postmaster General is aware of the want of punctuality in the receipt of the morning parcel mail viâ North Wall, and he is at the present time in communication with the railway company on the subject.