asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (a) if he will give figures to indicate the financial results of increasing telegraph charges and modernising the service, (b) how far the teleprinter and telephoned-telegram developments have been completed, and (c) whether he proposes to inaugurate a night letter telegraph delivery at lower charges.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telegraph Services.
The answers are as follow:—(a) The loss on the telegraph service for the year ended 31st March, 1955, was £378,000 odd. During the year ended 31st March last, telegraph revenue increased by an estimated £110,000 which increase was, however, offset by an increase in expenditure estimated at £40,000 owing mainly to increased wage rates. The net result was a reduced estimated loss of £308,000 in 1955-56.
(b) Teleprinter working has been introduced at 20 out of a total of 30 planned teleprinter centres. Telegraph automatic switching equipment has been installed at Dublin and is now serving the Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford telegraph offices. The other provincial teleprinter centres will be connected to the automatic system as soon as certain line equipment which is on order is installed within the next year. Conversion from morse to telephone transmission is still awaited at 24 post offices and two sub-post offices. A new telex service has been introduced which enables subscribers to exchange teleprinted messages with one another, with telegraph offices and with other telex subscribers abroad.
(c) An overnight telegraph service at reduced rates has been in operation since August, 1955.