§ MR. NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General if he is aware that officers have been compelled to return to duty in the Dublin sorting office after an interval of but five hours between two days duties; that recently the senior superintendent in Dublin refused to take a fatigue or sick note from an officer who pleaded his inability to attend with such a short interval for rest; and, if so, whether he will inquire into the matter and see that such conduct on the part of the superintendent in question is not repeated.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Lord STANLEY,) Lancashire, WesthoughtonThe matter referred to in the first part of the hon. Member's Question, as to the shortness of interval between certain sorting duties at Dublin, is dealt with in my Answer to-day to another Question of the hon. Member. It appears that on a recent occasion two officers who pleaded fatigue were instructed to take their turn for duty with other officers after an unavoidably short interval. They did not claim exemption on the ground of sickness; and they were not in a worse position as regards the length of their previous attendance than the other officers whose attendance was rendered necessary by the exigencies of the service.
§ MR. NANNETTII beg to ask the Postmaster-General if he is aware that the stringent instructions issued with reference to the nine clear hours at home are continually disregarded in Dublin: that this infringement is most frequent upon the arrival of an American mail, when impromptu arrangements are made for the attendance of the staff; that many officers who perform duty from 5 to 9 a.m. and from 3.30 to 7.30 p.m. 475 are on such occasions instructed to resume duty at midnight, and that in consequence they are practically on duty from 5 a.m. one morning till 7.45 on the following morning; and, if so, can he say if definite arrangements will be made to properly deal with the regular arrivals of such mails; and whether he will see that officers are allowed more than a bare five hours interval between two days duty, and that the right of the nine clear hours be extended on all occasions to the staff.
§ LORD STANLEYAll the duties in the Dublin office allow of a clear nine hours interval on ordinary occasions. The American mails are, however, irregular in their arrival, and it is not possible to forecast the arrangements necessary for dealing with the correspondence until the steamer touches at Queenstown. Under these circumstances I find that it has been necessary on three occasions since the 29th Match last, the date of the hon. Member's last Question, to call upon certain officers to attend, as described in the Question, some hours in advance of their ordinary morning duty. I may add that it is the practice to excuse such officers from the afternoon attendance of the same day, but that many have preferred to work this attendance as extra duty. I will inquire further whether it is practicable to devise some arrangements to relieve the staff of these duties; but it is evident that the irregular arrival of heavy foreign mails must give rise to variations in the regular arrangements for the attendance of the staff.