asked the Minister for Fisheries whether he has seen the reports of the mail robbery in which registered mail from the United States to Belfast was stolen, and whether, in view of the fact that this mail probably contained emigrants remittances, which would pay land annuities in the Northern areas, he will have a stay placed on prosecutions in respect of annuities in these districts until the stolen money is either restored or replaced.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - LAND ANNUITANTS IN NORTHERN AREAS.
Mr. BOLAND (for Mr. Carney)
It is understood from the newspaper reports that 214 registered packets which were enclosed in American mail bags received in Belfast on the 24th ultimo were found to have been slit open and the contents stolen, and that the open packets were delivered to the addresses on the following evening with an explanatory note from the postal authorities. The mail bags carried by the United States liner "Leviathan" in which correspondence intended for addresses in Saorstát Eireann was enclosed, were received intact and none of the registered packets was interfered with. I am informed by the Post Office authorities that correspondence from the United States to addresses in Saorstát Eireann does not normally circulate via Belfast. It is not proposed to place the stay suggested by the Deputy.