asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware that parcels sent from Germany by parcel post to the Irish Free State are handed over by the agents of the German Parcel Post in London to a commercial firm, and that the Irish consignee does not receive his parcel until he has paid this London commercial agent his out of pocket charges and filled up British Customs forms for its clearance; and whether he can make arrangements with the German Post Office that such parcels shall in future be sent direct to Dublin, and such charges cleared by the Irish Post Office, so as to avoid the possibility of delays and errors in London.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Postal Parcels From Germany.
Arrangements for the exchange of parcel mails between Germany and An Saorstát, both by direct steamer and via the British Post Office, have been in force for several years.
The parcels to which the Deputy refers are not sent by the official service. They are forwarded by a semiofficial service maintained by the German Postal Administration with a commercial agency in London. The parcels sent through the German semi-official agency are not handled by our Postal Administration at any point. It is open to the sender of a parcel to use either the official or the semi-official service and, if the latter involves delay, it is for the consignee to make any necessary representations to the sender.