§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)To ask the Postmaster-General whether, 1436 in view of the fact that the Committee which revised the holiday periods in the Central Telegraph Office promised that the choice of annual leave should remain governed by seniority, and that as a result the seniors made concessions in order to benefit their junior colleagues, he will explain why the Secretary to the Post Office now states that senior clerks are to have their holidays spread over eight months of the year, with the result that some are compelled to take their holidays in March after a service of nearly thirty years.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) The hon. Member presumably refers to the class of overseers and senior telegraphists. No statement has been made that the annual leave of any existing officers in that class is to be spread over eight months of the year, and none have had to take their leave in March.