asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is prepared to introduce a scheme whereby business people will be licensed to stamp business correspondence, the amount of postage to be collected from the licensee, similar to the scheme which operates in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Licences are at present issued to business people to stamp outward correspondence by means of postage meter franking machines. The Deputy may, however, have in mind the introduction of a business reply service under which business firms or persons desiring to obtain replies from clients without putting them to the expense of paying postage would send out with their circulars, etc., unstamped reply cards or envelopes of a special pattern which could be returned unstamped, the postage being collected from the original sender by the Post Office. The question of providing a service of this nature has been considered recently but the inquiries made by the Department indicated that the public support forthcoming would not be sufficient to warrant its introduction. The matter is, however, being kept under review.