§ Mr. CREANasked the Postmaster-General whether any decision had been come to whereby Irishmen are debarred from postmasterships in their own country; how many applicants have sought such promotion during the past three months; how many Irish postmasterships have been filled during the last five years; and what percentage of these by Irish-born officers?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELNo such decision has been come to as that suggested.1760W The information with regard to the country of birth of applicants for promotion to Irish postmasterships and of men appointed to the sixty which have been filled in the last five years would be troublesome to obtain, and would scarcely serve any useful purpose. But I may inform the hon. Member that over 75 per cent, of the postmasters in question were serving in Ireland when appointed to that position.