asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if any representations have been made recently by his Department to the competent authority with a view to having some means of communication made between Tuskar Lighthouse and the mainland.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TUSKAR LIGHTHOUSE AND MAINLAND.
The Board of Trade, which, pending the making of a Convention on the matter, is responsible for the lighthouse service, has already been informed that communication between the Tuskar Lighthouse and the mainland is desirable and should be retained. I understand that experiments are at present being made with a new system of wireless telephony which it is considered would be suitable for communication between lighthouses and the mainland and it is possible that on the completion of these experiments it will be practicable to restore communication with the Tuskar Lighthouse.
Is the Minister aware that a ship foundered off the Tuskar Rock within the past few weeks and were it not for the fact that the sea was comparatively calm all hands might have been lost? Does he know that the lightkeepers had this vessel under observation for a considerable time, but that they could not render any help owing to the fact that they had no communication with the mainland and that the ship might have been saved if there was communication with the mainland?
I am not sure that all that is accurate.
I am only asking is the Minister aware of it. I am.