asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state (a) how many candidates there were for the position of temporary postman in Hugginstown Post Office, County Kilkenny; (b) whether the person appointed was selected from amongst those registered at the employment exchange, and (c) whether the person appointed had service in the Defence Forces or had a knowledge of Irish.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Appointment of Temporary Postman.
There were two candidates for the recent vacancy for auxiliary postman at Hugginstown Post Office, both of whom were nominated by the employment exchange. The successful candidate did not serve with the Defence Forces, but he had been employed as substitute postman for upwards of ten years. His knowledge of Irish is slight, but Irish was not a requirement for the appointment.
Is it not possible to give preference to a man who served in the National Army and Defence Forces during the emergency, and why was it that the man who did serve in the National Army did not get the preference?
Both persons were registered at the labour exchange and were submitted by the labour exchange. The person appointed to the vacant post was appointed, firstly, because it was considered his domestic circumstances were worse than those of the second candidate. Further, he was appointed in pursuance of a Finance instruction issued in 1947 to the effect that special consideration should be given in the case of the employment of persons who had been employed intermittently over a number of years. The successful candidate, in this instance, had been employed as a substitute each year for the previous ten years.
The successful candidate was not employed in this particular post office, and he took no part whatsoever in any of the activities of the Defence Forces.
And there was a man in Baltinglass who did!
And you were responsible for giving it to him.