asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether he is aware that grave inconvenience and expense are caused to the general public, and particularly to the farming community, of Donaskeigh, Grants-town, Ballinard, Curraghpoor and Alleen, because no public telephone facilities exist in Donaskeigh, and whether he will take immediate steps to have such facilities provided there.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Tipperary Telephone. Facilities.
I have received representations from and on behalf of local organisations to provide a sub-post office with public telephone facilities at Donaskeigh. Provision of the facilities requested would be uneconomic and accordingly I regret they cannot be provided.
Is the Minister aware that this is one of the most important and populous districts in the South? There is a double school there; there is a Catholic Church and last, but by no means least, there is a creamery with an intake of 4,000 gallons a day. The nearest post office is Tipperary, some five miles away, and Dundrum is something about the same distance away. I would like to know if the Minister could do something towards providing telephone facilities in these circumstances?
All I can say is that the Deputy appears to be geographically at sea because the nearest post office is much closer than Tipperary. However, the particular difficulty is that there is not justification for the provision of a sub-post office at that particular point and without a sub-post office you cannot have a telephone. We have put sub-offices and telephones as close as we possibly can but in present circumstances there is no justification for a sub-office and telephone in the district. The only way in which it could be provided would be for a telephone to be rented by a local resident or a number of residents in order to provide facilities for the locality.