asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether it is proposed to cut off the daily delivery of letters on the Eyries-Urhan route, Castletownbere, Co. Cork, and whether any consideration has been given to the fact that this proposal will seriously hamper a number of people engaged in the fish-curing trade, which industry is of primary importance to the district, and whether due regard will be had to local needs before such a change is authorised.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Rural Postal Facilities.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether he has sanctioned the proposed curtailment of the postal delivery on the Bantry-Gurtalassa, Glenlough route, Co. Cork, and whether he has given any consideration to the fact that the route serves one hundred and fifty families, a school, a fish-curing station, and some merchants, and whether the matter will be reviewed in the light of local needs.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether it is his policy to restrict the delivery of letters in country districts to three days each week, and, if so, whether he has taken steps to ascertain the amount of correspondence in each particular district, and whether he is aware of and has taken into consideration the great inconvenience and extra expense which will be caused to a number of people who have a large daily correspondence.
I propose to answer Questions 2, 3 and 4 together and in doing so to make a brief statement on the subject of the restrictions of postal deliveries in rural districts which are being brought into operation from the 1st proximo, and which have been decided upon owing to the necessity of securing at once a material reduction in expenditure. The intention is that all rural posts, except those serving post offices, shall be restricted in future to three days a week. In deciding that frequency should be thus restricted the Department has been influenced by the consideration that the rural services in question are a source of serious loss and that, if necessary economy is to be secured, they cannot possibly be continued on the scale hitherto in force. The decision to restrict the deliveries has been arrived at with much reluctance and only because of the compelling need for the curtailment of expenditure. It is recognised that some inconvenience may be caused in individual cases, but I am satisfied that trade or business activities will not be materially hampered, particularly as on non-post days correspondence may be obtained free of charge on calling at post offices. Apart from posts serving sub-offices and perhaps a few cases where, on account of difficulty in making alternative provision for full time staff the existing services may have to be continued for a time, the restrictions will be general, and it will not be possible to make exceptions.
I want the Parliamentary Secretary to answer my simple question.
I thought it better to answer Deputy Cole's question by means of a general answer. I think the general answer which I have given covers the whole case, and that the particulars which Deputy Cole requires are not necessary in view of the general answer.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary say whether, in the reorganisation that is going to take place and in considering the dismissal of individuals who will be affected, service and experience will count in any way in deciding on those who will be retained? Apparently somebody will be retained to deliver letters.
I would like to point out that I got no answer to my question. I have put up two cases in which I consider that special circumstances are involved, and in not one sentence of the reply read by the Parliamentary Secretary has he adverted to the cases that I have mentioned. Surely that is not the way to answer a question.
I do not think that the Parliamentary Secretary has answered my question. I asked him if he has any means of ascertaining the amount of correspondence in each particular district, or if he has taken any trouble in the matter. I do not want to make a speech on the matter now; we will hear it later on. Heretofore the postmaster always sent inquiries to each district in his area to find out the amount of correspondence dealt with in each sub-office, and I want to know if that has been done in this case.
In answer to Deputy Murphy's question with regard to the inconvenience which will be caused to particular individuals, that has not been inquired into. We are aware that the general restrictions we are going to impose will cause inconvenience in certain cases, but as it is our intention to restrict what are at present called six-day frequencies, or six days' deliveries per week, to three-day frequencies, or three days' deliveries per week, we do not see how any useful purpose will be served by making special inquiries with regard to any particular route. On the supplementary question by Deputy Cole, we have not made particular inquiries as to the number of letters delivered on each route, but we have a record taken from time to time of the letters delivered on the various routes throughout the country, and, having that in mind, we decided upon the general restriction which we have made and which will involve the six-day frequencies. Deputy Davin inquired as to what our intentions were in regard to the temporary officials whose services will be dispensed with. It is our intention in letting out Post Office servants who are at present engaged in a temporary capacity to do so in such a way as to cause the least possible hardship in any particular case. Each case and the circumstances of each post office and sub-post office will be taken into account. We cannot lay down any definite rule on which to go at the moment.
Arising out of the Parliamentary Secretary's answer, may we take it from him that there will be no difference between a rural centre and a fishing centre, and that one must suffer as the other will?
Yes, they are to be included in the same category.
Has the Parliamentary Secretary taken into consideration the fact that if he puts into operation the policy which he has outlined in his reply he will be responsible for throwing approximately a thousand auxiliary postmen and allowance carriers out of positions, and if so what steps he proposes to take to find alternative employment for them——
The woollen tariff.
— in view of the fact that these men will be unemployed in rural areas where, the Parliamentary Secretary knows very well, it is almost impossible to find employment at the present time?
Could the Parliamentary Secretary inform the House what number of men will be disemployed throughout the country as a result of this order issued by his Department?
Deputy Thrift for the last supplementary question.
I could put half a dozen, but I will put them all into one. Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether the proposal is to employ the present men on alternate days, or to employ only half the present staff, and could he indicate approximately the amount of money that he hopes to save by this step?
We are aware, of course, that this scheme of retrenchment will cause a considerable amount of unemployment. For that reason, as I stated in my answer, it was with considerable reluctance indeed that we entered on this scheme, and we would not have done so were it not for the special circumstances of the case. As I have already informed the Dáil, we are endeavouring to break the fall as softly as possible for those who will be disemployed. A great many of them will not be completely disemployed, because all auxiliary and part-time postmen are only part-time employees of the Post Office, and they are, therefore, supposed to engage in some other occupation when they are finished their Post Office work. The actual number which will be disemployed is not at present accurately known, because that will depend upon the arrangements that are made at each particular post office as to what men shall be disemployed, and that again is dependent upon Deputy Thrift's question, that is, whether in the case of, say, two men who are at present delivering each day of the week we will in future employ one man, or whether, in the alternative, we will employ the two men three days weekly. That again will depend upon the circumstances of the particular post office and upon the particular circumstances of the postmen who will be dismissed. The money expected to be saved by this scheme of retrenchment, it is estimated, will not be less than £40,000.
Will that include home help for the men who will be unemployed?
The local ratepayers will soon know.