§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN (Kilkenny, N.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that officers of Excise, performing duty for absent officers for whom no substitute can be provided, receive special remuneration for such duty, while clerks in the offices of the collectors of Inland Revenue under similar circumstances are expected to perform the extra duty without any remuneration, he will take steps to place the two branches on an equality in this respect.
(Answered by Mr. Victor Cavendish.) I am unable to undertake to do what the hon. Member suggests, as the two branches of the Inland Revenue service to which he refers do not stand on the same footing. A clerk in a collector's office is one of several, and the duties of the office as a whole have to be discharged by the staff as a whole. An officer of Excise, on the other hand, occupies an isolated position with specified duties, and any addition thereto, caused by his discharging similar duties in an adjoining station, increases his work in a distinct and definite manner.