§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLINI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he will state what is the period of probation for female learners in the post offices in Dublin and Belfast; what is the remuneration given to such learners during the probationary period and afterwards; whether the same conditions as to probation and payment apply to the rest of 285 Ireland outside Dublin and Belfast, or, if not, in what the difference consists.
LORD STANLEYThe situation of female learner in Dublin and Belfast is not an established one, and the appointment is not, therefore, subject to a fixed period of probation, but the whole service as learner is regarded as probationary; promotion to the established class of sorting clerks and telegraphists is not made unless the service as learner is satisfactory. The pay of female learners is 5s a week. On obtaining an established appointment the pay is increased to 10s. a week or upwards, according to length of unestablished service and qualifications. The same conditions apply to the paid learners at all other offices in Ireland and elsewhere.