§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELL (Kerry, W.)To ask the Postmaster-General 28 days which were not counting days, which have been occupied in the discussion of Supply in the present session.
(Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) whether he is aware that a parcel, addressed in Irish by Mr. Cahill, chemist, Dublin, was refused, at the General Post Office, Dublin, on 9th May, though letters with the same address had previously been safely delivered; whether the postmaster, Drumcondra Road. Dublin, 29 received the same parcel the following morning, and had it safely delivered to its destination; and whether this postmaster has since been censured for receiving this parcel, and thus acting against his instructions.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) I am aware of the case to which the hon. Member refers. It has been found necessary to make a regulation that a parcel addressed in Irish shall not be accepted unless a translation of the address can be added in English. Neither the person who took Mr. Cahill's parcel to the chief office in Dublin nor the officer to whom it was tendered was able to add a translation, and it was therefore correctly refused. The officer who afterwards accepted it at the Drumcondra Road Office was unable to add the translation, but he assumed that this would be done at the chief office. He did not act in accordance with his instructions, and his attention has been called to the matter.