§ MR. NANNETTII beg to ask the Postmaster-General is he aware that sixteen sorting clerks and telegraphists in Dublin appointed to the telegraph side have within the past few years been repeatedly sent to the sorting office at a moment's notice, and have as a consequence to perform irregular duties; and whether, seeing that such withdrawal from the instrument room interferes with their efficiency as telegraphists, and that public work is endangered when handled by telegraphists out of practice, and, having regard to his condemnation of this system when speaking on last year's Estimates, will he see that it is abolished; and further, is he aware that, although these men have been removed from the instrument room on the plea of surplus staff, since their removal as many as 126 hours overtime were performed in the instrument room.
LORD STANLEYThe officers to whom the hon. Member refers are, under the conditions of their appointment, liable to serve either on the telegraph or on the postal side. Their employment on postal work does not produce the serious results which the hon. Member apprehends. As regards the last part of his Question, I will make inquiry.