§ MR. CREAN (Cork, S.E.)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether the salary of third-class clerks in the Stores Department, Dublin, is £15 a year less than the same class in London; whether the candidates for this class in both cities have to pass the same competitive examination and are performing identical duties; whether, seeing that the Hob-house Committee has recommended equality of treatment, he will say whether this recommendation has been acted on in connection with the second division, assistant, and women clerks employed at the Dublin Post Office; and, if so, whether he can say why an exception has been made in the case of third class clerks in Dublin.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONI do not know what recommendation of the Hobhouse Committee the hon. Member refers to. The pay of the third class clerks has been fixed on the analogy of that of third class clerks in engineering offices, for whom the Select Committee recommended a difference in emoluments to the extent of £15, in favour of those employed in London. The recommendations of the Committee did not cover second division and assistant clerks as such officers belong to classes not exclusively employed in the Post Office. As regards the women clerks the Committee recommended a somewhat lower scale for women clerks in Dublin and Edinburgh than for those employed in London.