asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will consider having a pillar box erected at Torduff, Killenagh, Gorey, County Wexford, to facilitate old people who at present are required to travel up to two miles to post letters.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Postal and Telephone Facilities.
The erection of a letter box at Torduff, Killenagh, Gorey, is warranted and I am arranging for its provision.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware that it takes three days for a letter posted in Dublin to reach Rhode, County Offaly, and that the postal service is a cause of grave local dissatisfaction; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take to improve the present services.
Letters posted at the General Post Office and College Green Branch Office up to 6.0 p.m. and letters posted in time for the 4.0 p.m.— 5.0 p.m. general evening collections at other posting boxes in the city and suburbs are due for delivery at Rhode next morning. If the Deputy has evidence that letters have not secured due course delivery at Rhode I shall have inquiry made regarding them if he will send me the covers.
The postal services at Rhode compare favourably with those throughout the rest of the country and no recent complaints of dissatisfaction therewith have reached my Department.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware of the necessity for a sub-post office at Grangegeeth, Slane, County Meath, in view of the fact that old age pensioners have to go to Collon, which is six miles away, to draw their old age pension; that a post office did exist here some years ago; and that over 200 people have signed a statement requesting the erection of a post office; and, if so, if he will have the matter investigated.
Inquiries recently made in the matter indicate that the amount of business likely to be transacted would not justify the cost of establishing and maintaining a sub-post office at Grangegeeth. Slane post office is only three miles distant from Grangegeeth and old age pensioners can cash their pensions there. If unable to attend the office because of disability they may arrange to have their pensions paid to an agent.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will immediately have installed a modern switchboard at Castlebar telephone exchange of dimensions suitable to handle the increased call traffic and eliminate the long delays which subscribers have at the moment to endure and have any other necessary steps taken at once towards that end.
The switchboard equipment at Castlebar exchange is adequate for the volume of traffic. The delays complained of are due solely to insufficiency of trunk lines on certain routes, particularly the routes between Castlebar and Ballina and between Ballina and Dublin. An additional Castlebar-Ballina line will be brought into use very shortly. It is hoped it will be possible to improve the Ballina-Dublin service next year.
Is the Minister aware that even local calls sometimes are delayed for as long as one and a half hours through no fault of the staff? It is purely the fault of inadequate and antiquated equipment. I believe the switchboard is not capable of handling half of the calls coming through. Telephone subscribers in the Castlebar area might as well be without a telephone at all most of the time. It is about time that something would be done about that.
According to the information I have received the delays are not due to the Castlebar exchange which, in fact, is sufficient in size for a greater number of subscribers' lines than are attached thereto at present. It is due to insufficiency of trunk lines and, as I have indicated to the Deputy, the matter is being attended to.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware of unreasonable delay in the telephone service to Daingean, County Offaly, as long delays are experienced in obtaining calls; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take in the matter; and, further, whether a continuous service will be provided for Daingean and a kiosk erected for the use of the general public in the town.
Delay on calls to and from Daingean are not excessive having regard to the position in this respect at many much larger exchanges. Additional trunk lines from the southern trunk cable have recently been provided in the Tullamore area which have improved the service at Daingean and further improvement will be effected when additional trunk lines to Dublin are made available within the next few months.
There are only five subscribers at Daingean exchange and this number does not justify the provision of continuous service. The erection of a kiosk at Daingean is not warranted at present.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state, in view of the recent heavy increase in telephone charges, the steps he is taking to improve the telephone service, especially with regard to wrong numbers and crossed lines.
Improvement of the Dublin automatic system, to which I assume the Deputy's question refers, is being pushed ahead as rapidly as possible by the provision of new automatic exchanges and the renewal and extension of existing exchanges. Within the next fortnight, a new main automatic exchange will be brought into service in the central city area. The measures referred to will help to reduce the number of faults of the kind mentioned by the Deputy in so far as they are due to overloaded equipment or equipment due for renewal. I should add, however, that the number of such faults reported is very small in relation to the 1,000,000 odd calls connected automatically each week in the Dublin automatic system.
May I inquire if the Minister is in a position to forecast the approximate date on which the new premises in St. Andrew Street will be available for equipping the new central telephone exchange as is intended?
I can reply to the Deputy but that is another question since I was referring to the Hammam Building Exchange.
Quite.
If the Deputy puts down a question I will be able to give him more accurate information than I could give at the moment. It depends on delivery of equipment.
I will do that.
Is it not possible for the Department to do something specific in relation to cross-lines as distinct from any new automatic telephone exchange?
The Department makes every effort to carry out repairs and maintenance where lines are crossed and the number of complaints we have received is very small having regard to the total number of calls made. If the Deputy or any Deputy has knowledge of complaints made that have not received attention I shall be glad if he will communicate with the Department.
I must have the most unfortunate telephone in the country.
Oh, no, you have not.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state when he proposes to install a public telephone at Killasser sub-post office, Swinford, County Mayo.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state if it is his intention to install a public telephone at Callow sub-post office, Foxford.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state when he proposes to install a public telephone at Attymass sub-post office, Ballina.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware that the very populous area of Killawalla, Westport, County Mayo, has no telephone service; and, if so, if he will take steps to provide one as soon as possible.
With your permission, a Chinn Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 62, 63 and 64 together.
There are now about 600 post offices without telephones and they are being dealt with at the rate of 130, approximately, a year. Deputies may ascertain if places they are interested in are to receive attention during this financial year by referring to the list circulated with the Official Report by my predecessor on the occasion of a question by Deputy Spring on 14th March, 1951.
As regards post offices to be dealt with in the next financial year, I have approved of the general lines on which they should be selected. Regard will be had to social considerations, but the choice will be based largely on engineering considerations. Any pressure brought to bear by Deputies in respect of a particular office if successful would almost certainly postpone service being granted in an adjacent area where the need is equally great.
I do not intend to interfere with the list of selected offices once determined.
With regard to Question No. 64, I should like to point out to the Minister that the Killawalla area comprises almost 1,000 families and that the people there are 14 miles from the nearest town. While I can understand that engineering problems must be given a certain priority, it seems to me that such a vast number of families living at such a long distance from the nearest medical or other centre deserve a priority. I think that it would be difficult to find a more deserving case.
Why is it that the rate is only approximately 130 per year and why are there not more connections?
Because the staff of the engineering department are engaged on works of various kinds— cabling and so forth. There is a limited total staff available for that purpose. A portion of the staff is directed to establishing call offices.
Why not increase the staff?
In reply to Deputy Blowick, I may say that the considerations he has mentioned have the attention of the Department. As there are only 600 post offices left without telephones and as they are being catered for at the rate of approximately 130 per year, it would seem undesirable to delay the carrying out of the whole work by interfering with the list of selected offices. The Deputy may rest assured that for every area which he can mention of the kind which he has specified another area will suffer in respect of the area which he has chosen.
Will the Minister say if it is possible that engineering staff have been diverted in the past from work of that nature to the provision of telephone facilities for colonels, and so forth, of the British Army who were prepared, I must say, to pay for these facilities? Has that not had the effect of slowing-up the provision of telephone facilities in rural areas where they are so essential?
My predecessor in office determined a list of priorities in regard to the attachment of subscribers' lines and I have included in that list registered guest-houses in order to help the tourist industry.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether it is a fact that a telephone extension was recently made from Roundwood Post Office to Luggala Lodge; and, further, if he will state (a) the date application was made for this installation, (b) the number of poles set, (c) the number of miles of wire required, (d) the number of men employed on this operation, (e) the total cost of the erection of this extension and (f) if this extension serves only one house.
The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative.
Provision of service within six months was promised in a departmental letter to the subscriber in December, 1950, when my predecessor was in office, application having been made in September, 1948.
In regard to the remainder of the question, I think it would be highly detrimental to the development of the telephone service to publish the circumstances relating to individual telephone installations which are the subject of contract entered into privately between the Department and the subscriber concerned, particularly having regard to the desirability of encouraging the rural community to take service. I am, therefore, sending full particulars to the Deputy privately in regard to the remainder of the question.
The Deputy will be aware that all requests for telephone service are granted sooner or later provided that the subscriber enters into an agreement and is regarded as creditworthy.
Would it not be possible for the Army engineering branch to co-operate with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in order to speed-up the installation of telephones?
That is a separate question.
Will the Minister state whether it is a fact that the engineering gang was brought specially into this area in order to install just one telephone—or was it installed in the ordinary way?
It was done in the normal way.
The previous Minister sanctioned the same procedure himself.
No.