§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)To ask the Postmaster-General how many applications were received from members of the Irish postal service for the postmastership of Kilrush, county Clare, and what was the length of service of each applicant; what is the length of service of the sorting clerk and telegraphist from Retford appointed to the position; what special qualifications did he possess over the Irish applicants; and what knowledge does he possess of the needs of the locality in which he has been appointed postmaster.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) Thirty applications were received from officers employed in the postal service in Ireland for the postmastership of Kilrush. The length of established service of the recommended Irish candidates ranged from four and a quarter to sixteen and a half years. The length of the established service of the sorting clerk and telegraphist appointed to the postmastership; was seventeen and a half years. I accept, of course, full responsibility for the appointments which I make, but I deprecate any attempt to discuss the relative merits of different candidates by way of Question and Answer in this House.