§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that the local post office store branches in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, have been abolished, and a new central department created in Dublin to take their place, and that the Irish clerks in the former blanches were informed they could not obtain appointments under the new departments, he will state how they have been provided for; and whether a portion of the staff has been imported.
§ (Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The formation of the new central stores branch in Dublin is still under consideration, and in the circumstances I am not yet in a position to state what the composition of the staff will be. As I said on the 18th April, in reply to the hon. Member for North Kilkenny, full regard will be had to the claims of the existing staff, and there is no question of dispensing with the services of any of them, or of reducing their pay.