§ MR. DELANY (Queen's County, Ossory)To ask the Postmaster-General if he will say the amount of overtime at present being performed in the Dublin General Post Office (postal and telegraph branches) from the 1st to the 20th of July; and if he can state the cause thereof.
§ MR. DELANYTo ask the Postmaster-General if, in view of the amount of overtime worked in the Dublin General Post Office, he will make arrangements to have the staff increased by placing on the establishment some, at least, of the learners at that office who are at present waiting over two years for appointments.
§ MR. DELANYTo ask the Postmaster-General will he say why the vacancies that exist on the sorting and telegraph branches in the Dublin General Post Office are not tilled up; and, considering that these vacancies have now existed for some time, that there are large numbers of learners still unappointed, and in view of the amount of overtime which is being worked, will he see the appointments are filled up forthwith.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) I may, perhaps, be allowed to answer the hon. Member's three Questions on this subject together. The number of hours of overtime performed on week-days by the indoor force in the sorting and telegraph offices in Dublin from the 1st to the 20th July inclusive were 2,577 and 1,591 respectively. I regret the amount of overtime which has been necessary, the greater part of which was due to the withdrawal of officers for season pressure, for substituting officers on leave, and for loan to provincial offices, that is to say, to causes incidental to the summer season. The staff of the Dublin office is at present under revision, and I am not able to appoint the learners to established posts until the revision is completed.