§ MR. A. ROCHE (Cork)To ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to complaints recently made to the authorities at the Cork post office regarding delay on Press and commercial telegrams; will he cause a Return to be kept of all delays exceeding 977 fifteen minutes in the despatch of commercial telegrams at Cork for one month, and to furnish an explanation for the cause of such delays, if any, and a Return of all waits given to stations working to Cork during that time; will be also give a Return of the deaths and sick leave of the Cork Post Office staff for the five years ended 31st December, 1907, as compared with the previous five years; and whether, seeing that the local medical officer attributed the increased sick leave to the hustling methods recently adopted, he will take steps to see that the Cork Post Office staff perform their work under conditions less trying to their health.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) Complaints such as those to which the hon. Member refers have not recently been made either to the Postmaster of Cork, or to the Surveyor, or to me. Returns made in the ordinary course, now before me, show no undue delay, and I see no reason for having special Returns taken. Seven deaths occurred among the indoor staff at the Cork Post Office during the quinquennial period ending December, 1902, and five during the five years ending December, 1907. The average annual sick-rate during the first period was 5.2 days for men and 6.9 days for women, and during the second period 8.5 days for men and 13.1 for women. The former rates were below the average for the Irish Post Office staff generally, while the latter rates were slightly above the normal as regards men and normal as regards women. Last year the sick-rate at Cork stood lower than it did in any of the preceding four years, with the single exception of the rate for women in 1904. There is no reason to think that the conditions of working which prevail at Cork are unduly trying. The medical officer (whose views are not accurately represented in the Question) states that while some temporary cases of nervous debility among the female staff may have been due to the strain of work, he has no specific case recorded of illness attributable to that cause, and as regards the staff generally he has stated spontaneously in his annual reports to the chief medical officer throughout the last ten years, that the various duties did not appear to have any detrimental effect on their health.