§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORTo ask the Postmaster-General, if he has received a memorial from the postmen at Dublin complaining against their exclusion from the limited section at the male learners' examination to be held on 4th April by the introduction of a new age limit; and if he has arrived at any decision in the matter.
§ (Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) I have received the memorial referred to. As I explained in an Answer to a Question from the hon. Member for College Green, Dublin, on the 3rd of December last,†postmen will not in future have to wait their turn on the learner class but will be allowed to compete for appointment direct to the class of sorting clerks and telegraphists. There are still some learners of long service waiting appointment at Dublin, and, when they have been provided for, a competition for places as sorting clerks and telegraphists limited to postmen and other persons employed by the Department will be arranged. The age limits will be eighteen and twenty-five, with extension in favour of those officers who have been employed from a time when they were under twenty-five. The successful candidates from that competition will rank for appointment before the learners admitted as a result of the January and April competitions.