78. Mr. NUGENTasked the Postmaster General if he is aware that the average monthly expenditure on materials in the Post Office Engineering Branch, Ireland, for the period August, 1914, to April, 1915, was £4,972, during which time the district was in charge of Irishmen, and for the periods May to December, 1915, January to December, 1916, and January to April, 1917, £1,387, £1,126, and £1,100, respectively, thus indicating that a much larger quantity of materials was used monthly in the first-mentioned period, and consequently a greater volume of work done each month than during the other periods referred to; can he say what justification there was for the transfer of the six additional men from England in April, 1915, at the transference cost of £442, and for their retention in Ireland at the present time, thereby adding unnecessary expense to the Irish Post Office Appropriation of over £1,900 annually; and will he undertake, in the event of these men having volunteered for active service, to have them released or, if not, re-transferred to England, where they could be more usefully and economically employed?
The ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Pike Pearse)There is no correspondence between the net amounts spent on materials and the volume of work done, for the net amounts spent on materials are the costs of new materials less the value of recovered materials. In the first period referred to heavy charges were incurred for stores which were not made use of until later. The six officers sent from England were in substitution of Royal Engineers withdrawn for active service and their services in Ireland cannot be dispensed with.