Vol. 211 No. 4
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs why telephones in the Terenure area, Dublin were out of order on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 13th, 14th and 15th June last; when steps were taken to remedy the fault; and what steps were taken to ensure that such faulty service does not arise in future.
39.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if, having regard to the fact that telephone subscribers in the Terenure area, Dublin were without a Telephone service on the 13th, 14th and 15th June last, they will be given three days credit in their telephone rental accounts; and, if not, why.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Question Nos. 38 and 39 together. Telephones in the Terenure area were functioning normally on Saturday 13th June.
In the afternoon of Sunday 14th June a main junction cable was put out-of-order as a result of flooding of the cable chamber at Terenure Exchange and of several manholes in the area by a burst water pipe. The fault interrupted service between Terenure and most of the Dublin Exchanges.
Immediate remedial action was taken. Service was restored on a partial basis within about 2 hours and it was progressively improved until normal service was restored on Monday night.
Having regard to the comparatively brief duration for most subscribers of the interruption of service, a rebate of rental would not be warranted.
Am I to understand that when the Minister refers to a partial restoration of service, he means people could phone other subscribers in the Terenure area, because that was the only restoration? Is it not true that it was at least 24 hours before even that service was available? Can the Minister not recover from Dublin Corporation who, I understand, were the cause of the burst pipe, the rental in respect of the loss of service to these people?
There was a progressive restoration of service from two hours after the interruption. In view of the fact that the rental works out at about 6d per day residence rate, I do not think I would be justified in asking the Department to estimate the differences between each person's rental in order to make a rebate.
Is it not the true position that literally thousands of subscribers were without the telephone service for a number of days?
That is not true.
I am sure the Minister is telling the truth when he says there was a gradual restoration of service, but the fact remains that many people were without the telephone for several days with serious inconvenience.
The service was put out of action at 4.15 p.m. on Sunday 14th June and was fully restored on Monday night, 15th June. It was not out of action for three or four days.
It may be that the first time the Department took action was on Sunday afternoon. Considering that the Corporation do not work on Sunday, the fault is more likely to have occurred on Saturday.
