I move:
That a sum not exceeding £11,942,000 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1966, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, and of certain other Services administered by that Office, and for payment of a Grant in Aid.
The net Estimate of £18,727,000 for my Department is shown in the Estimates volume as £3,661,000 greater than last year's. But when allowance is made for the Supplementary Estimate of £2,816,000, voted earlier this month, the actual increase is £845,000. Of that amount, £150,000 arises in the grant-in-aid to Radio Éireann. Accordingly, the net increase for the services directly provided by my Department is £695,000.
When allowance is made for the provision of £3,679,000 in the Supplementary Estimate, the amount required for next year is £662,000 less than in the current year. The amount required is smaller, not because of any reduction in the Department's staff or in the scale of its activities, but, because in 1964/65, we have had not only to meet the full cost of the ninth round and various status increases but also to make large payments relating to 1963/64 where settlements had retrospective effect. For instance, an arbitration award made in November last had retrospective effect to October, 1963. The actual reduction in expenditure will not, however, be as large as the figures I have given would indicate. This Estimate had to be prepared quite some time ago, as Deputies will understand and, since then, a number of claims were settled and others are still in process of being dealt with. We were able to include provision for some of these claims in the Supplementary Estimate, which was prepared later than this Estimate. Unless we can effect savings to meet wage settlements not provided for in this Estimate, a Supplementary Estimate will be needed later on. I would expect it to be relatively small, but it would affect the comparison I have made.
So far as staff numbers are concerned, Deputies can see from the figures given in the volume that provision is being made for 571 more heads, as compared with this year. The additional staff is mainly required for the expanding telephone service—either on the enginering side for construction and maintenance work or on the operating side to deal with the growing volume of traffic.
When allowance is made for the £65,000 provided in the Supplementary Estimate, the increase on Subhead B for travelling and incidental expenses amounts to £24,000, mainly due to larger provisions for savings publicity and for various incidental expenses.
The increase over 1964/65, on Subhead C, accommodation and building charges, after allowing for a saving of some £119,000 for which credit was taken in the Supplementary Estimate, is £153,000. This is mainly attributable to expenditure on buildings which we had expected to have to meet in the current year, but which will not arise until next year, to expenditure on additional accommodation for engineering staff, and to higher recoupments to the Valuation Office for payments in lieu of rates.
The increase of £126,000 on Subhead E, postal and general stores, over 1964/65 is mainly attributable, in nearly equal parts, to the expansion of the postal motor fleet, and to a change in the incidence of accounts for stationery and other office requisites that will result in larger payments during next year.
The increase over 1964/65 on Subhead F, engineering stores and equipment, after allowing for a saving of £335,000 for which credit was taken in the Supplementary Estimate is £1,640,000 and is mainly required to meet the needs of the expanding Telephone Capital development programme, and the maintenance of the ever-growing system. In addition, £100,000 is included for an extension to the automatic telex exchange to cater for additional subscribers, and £250,000 for conveyor, heating and lighting installations at the new Central Sorting Office in Dublin.
The increase of £426,000 on Subhead G, Telephone Capital Repayments, is the result of the rapidly growing capital investment in the telephone service.
An amount equivalent to the net broadcasting licence fee revenue from television and sound licences is transferred to Radio Éireann under Subhead K, Grant equivalent to net receipts from broadcasting licence fees (Grant-in-Aid), which shows an increase over 1964/65 of £150,000, after allowing for £50,000 provided in the Supplementary Estimate. We expect a growth in the revenue from combined licences as more people get television sets. Perhaps I should explain that, pending the introduction later this year of legislation amending the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, the grant-in-aid is being calculated by reference to the basis set out in that Act.
Under Subhead T—Appropriations in Aid—the increase over 1964/65, allowing for approximately £569,000 provided for in the Supplementary Estimate, is £1,027,000. Additional recoveries from Telephone Capital funds in respect of the enlarged telephone development programme amounting to £1,050,000, offset by some minor variations on other items, are responsible.
It may be opportune at this point to draw attention to the Supplementary Estimate for £10 for 1964/65 which is being taken with the Estimate. Expenditure of approximately £15,000 will be incurred this year on a project to provide telecommunication circuits by way of a satellite system. Deputies may remember that in introducing the Estimate for 1964/65 I mentioned this project. The expenditure will be borne ultimately on Telephone Capital Funds and sufficient savings are expected to be available from other provisions to cover the expenditure. Because, however, of the somewhat novel nature of the expenditure, I have thought it advisable to bring it specially to the notice of the House by way of a token Supplementary Estimate. I will have more to say about the satellite project when I am dealing with the telephone service generally later on.
Postal traffic continued at a high level during 1964. The total volume of letter mail was much the same as in 1963 and Christmas postings reached a new record, slightly higher than in the previous year; but parcel traffic declined by 8 per cent.
In the foreign post, first-class and second-class outgoing mail increased by 5 per cent and there were some substantial increases under certain headings; parcel traffic was up by 11 per cent and second-class mail to North America by 39 per cent.
Arrangements were made to accelerate the motorisation of collection and delivery work in areas where conditions were favourable. During the year 80 posts were converted to motor working as compared with 26 in 1963. In view of the high cost of rural mail services in relation to the number of items handled, it is important that the cost per item should be reduced as much as possible. One way of achieving this is to enable postmen to cover much wider areas by use of motor transport where it is economic to do so. In order to determine as far as practicable the scope for the economic use of motorised services, a special countrywide survey is at present in progress. All the costs of conveyance of mail have been under close examination with a view to offsetting the effect of various factors which would otherwise raise the provision under Subhead D substantially. By revision of existing arrangements it has been found practicable to absorb these increases. The additional provision of less than 2 per cent under Subhead D as compared with last year is intended to cover payments for anticipated increase in foreign traffic. It is expected that this extra expenditure will be more than covered by additional revenue.
I mentioned last year that motor scooters were being introduced experimentally on certain rural delivery services. It is too soon yet to reach any firm conclusions about their general suitability but experience of the working of the machines to date has been sufficiently encouraging to warrant an extension of the trials and this is being arranged.
A number of small uneconomic subpost offices were closed on the occurrence of vacancies.
Contracts have been placed for the installation in the new Central Sorting Office in Sheriff Street, Dublin, of the most modern kinds of mail handling equipment, including parcel and packet sorting machines, conveyor bands and mechanical elevators. Arrangements have also been made for the installation of mechanical mail conveyors at the Cork and Limerick Sorting Offices. All these devices will contribute to the more efficient, speedy and economical handling of the mails.
The public response to the campaign for the use of Dublin postal district numbers continues to be gratifying. About 64 per cent of the mail now delivered in Dublin carried the postal district number.
Following the successful introduction in the GPO and at St. Andrew Street Post Office of letter-boxes with two apertures—one for "Dublin Only", the other for "All Other Places"— similar boxes will be provided in other parts of the central city area. Erection of the boxes will begin this year. The co-operation of the public in posting their correspondence in the appropriate aperture will be valuable in reducing the sorting peaks in the evenings. In this way the public will help to ensure that outgoing mails will meet despatching deadlines.
I have received a preliminary report from the Stamp Design Advisory Committee. Designs for the proposed new permanent series of stamps will be sought during the coming year.
Special postage stamps were issued in 1964 to commemorate Wolfe Tone and to mark Ireland's participation in the New York World's Fair. In conjunction with other member-countries of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunication Administrations, we issued another "Europa" stamp in September last.
During the coming year it is proposed to issue special stamps to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the International Telecommunications Union and the birth of William Butler Yeats. We will also bring out a further "Europa" stamp and a stamp to mark 1965 as International Co-operation Year. This latter project is sponsored by the United Nations on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its foundation.
A series of special stamps will be produced next year in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
The total number of telegrams handled continued to decline, the estimated fall of 100,000 to 1,460,000 being about the same as that experienced in the previous year. The number of foreign telegrams, incoming and outgoing, was up by 21,000. Despite the overall drop in telegraph traffic, revenue from telegrams was up by about £54,000 mainly because of the increased charges.
The continuing decline in telegraph traffic has enabled economies to be effected. When the teleprinter automatic switching system was completed in 1958 there were 29 transmitting offices. Since then it has become possible to cease teleprinter working at five of those offices and further economies are in prospect.
Last year I reported the introduction of the Gentex service whereby telegrams could be transmitted more speedily by direct connection between this country and Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. The service has now been extended to include France and it is hoped to bring more continental countries within its scope during the next few years.
The Telex service which has operated on a manual exchange since it began in December, 1955 was converted to automatic working in October last. Because of the limited capacity of the manual exchange the connection of new subscribers was suspended from July, 1963 until the automatic exchange was brought into service. Since then, those who had applied in 1963 have been given service. It is hoped to deal with the 1964 applications within the next few months—except those which entail exceptional line work—and the 1965 applications as soon as possible after that. The capacity of the existing automatic exchange is slightly under 400 but an order for an extension to increase its capacity to cater for over 900 subscribers was placed in March, 1964 and is due for completion towards the end of this year.
The conversion of the Telex service to automatic working in October last coincided with a reduction in the rental charges by 10/- per mile up to 200 miles. Moreover, where under the manual system calls were charged for in accordance with international practice, on the basis of a minimum of three minutes and pro rata per minute thereafter, now subscribers obtaining calls automatically buy time in 2d. units, the amount of time varying with the distance of the call. Subscribers can, therefore, save substantially on short calls to European countries.
We now have Telex service with 77 countries—three more than last year. Over the year, internal telex traffic dropped slightly but traffic to Great Britain and to other countries increased substantially. It is estimated that telex revenue increased from £88,000 to £105,000.
The use of radiotelephone equipment for communication between fixed and mobile stations is proving popular. The number of business radio licences increased by 21 per cent to 212 since last year and there are now 1,594 stations.
The telephone service continued to expand during 1964. The total number of calls made was over 190 million, an increase of 11.4 million on the previous year. There was a record increase of 2.7 million, or 15.4 per cent, in the number of trunk calls.
Exchange development was accelerated during the year. Forty-three manual exchanges were converted to automatic working, eight new exchanges were opened and an additional 180 were enlarged. The work of installation of automatic equipment was advanced at many other points, including several important centres, with the result that automatic working was recently introduced at Shannon Airport and will be introduced in the next few months at Portlaoise, Tullamore and Athy. In the coming financial year new automatic exchanges will be opened at a number of further centres, including Arklow, Carlow, Ennis, Clara, Athboy and Wicklow. In the Dublin area new exchanges at Blanchardstown, Finglas and Phibsboro are nearing completion.
As a result of the policy adopted in recent years, which I have repeatedly mentioned in this House and outside it, of concentrating on improving the service and, in particular, the trunk service, even at the cost of slowing down the rate of connection of new subscribers' lines, the past year has shown spectacular progress in the provision of trunk circuits. Some 2,150 additional circuits were brought into service, almost double the number for 1963 and representing about 20 per cent in total circuit capacity. Most of the additions, comprising 47,000 miles of circuiting, were provided by means of new cables or additional equipment for existing cables, and radio links; and some 2,500 miles of open-wire circuits were replaced by high quality circuits in cable or in radio links.
Major trunking schemes were completed in Counties Kerry and Limerick, providing greatly increased outlets for these areas as well as, of course, improving the local service. The most important cable links established were between Tralee-Killarney-Killorglin, Tralee-Limerick, Limerick-Shannon Airport and Limerick-Rathkeale, and schemes linking Limerick-Tipperary and Limerick-Kilmallock were well advanced. Radio links were brought into service from Limerick to Tralee and from Limerick to Athlone.
Much progress was made in other parts of the country as well. Main cabling schemes were completed linking Dublin-An Uaimh-Ceanannus Mór, Athlone-Ballinasloe, Galway-Tuam, Clonmel-Cahir, Clonmel-Fethard, and at a number of other places. Radio links were brought into service between Dublin and Wicklow and between Wicklow and Arklow. Several other underground trunking schemes were substantially advanced. In addition extra circuits were provided on most of the main routes and aerial cable schemes were completed on a large number of lesser routes.
In the areas affected by the completed schemes and in many other places the trunk service has been raised to a high standard. There are, however, several parts of the country where the service is still not satisfactory, and priority will continue to be given to the work of raising the standard in these areas. Some major underground cabling schemes were launched during the year which are needed to give a first rate service to Counties Cavan and Monaghan, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, and to West Cork. These involve very extensive work estimated to cost over £1½ millions and cannot be completed in less than two to three years time; but some advance circuits will become available before then, and everything possible will be done to maintain a reasonable standard of service in the meantime.
In addition to the improvements in the internal service, 46 extra crossChannel circuits were provided, and the provision of a further 48 has been arranged. The total number of circuits to Britain will then be over 350. The establishment of a new cross-Channel route, which will have a capacity of 800 circuits or more, is under negotiation. When compared with the 24 circuits that we had in 1945, these figures give a good picture of the growth that has taken place.
The concentration of effort on trunking work necessarily limited the number of new telephones that could be provided. The number connected was 13,726 and a further 2,330 were having attention at the end of 1964. The waiting applications then, including cases in course of installation, totalled 13,215, which was an increase of about 1,600 on the previous year. I regret very much this increase in the waiting list, but our total resources, although being steadily increased, are unfortunately insufficient to enable the arrears on all phases of the service to be overtaken together. Meanwhile, I appreciate the understanding that has been shown generally by the public in regard to the situation, even by those who might reasonably have grown impatient of the delays attending their applications for telephone service.
The progress made in building up the organisation to deal with the greatly increased demand arising from the increased volume of business and higher standard of living in the community can be measured in terms of money and staff numbers. Expenditure on telephone capital works, that is, additions to the system as distinct from maintenance, in the past five years has been as follows:- 1960/61, £2,164,299; 1961/62, £2,411,700; 1962/ 63, £3,673,540; 1963/64, £4,606,782; and 1964/65, £6,200,000 (approx.) and expenditure for 1965/66 is estimated at £7,250,000.
In the same period the strength of the engineering force has risen as follows:— 1960/61, 2,644; 1961/62, 2,732; 1962/63, 2,854; 1963/64, 3,290; 1964/65, 3,478; and 1965/66, 3,729 (estimated).
It may be particularly interesting to note that the annual intake of technician trainees, who are, in effect, the apprentices in training for the skilled work below professional engineer level, has been raised to 100 a year, and we now have 299 of these youths being trained to provide for the future needs of the service, as compared with 87 five years ago. This increase could not have been effected without the willing and ready co-operation of the vocational schools organisations in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
In addition to building up our own work-force, we have greatly increased the volume of work given to contractors so as to enlarge total output to the maximum extent possible. Some Deputies last year expressed fears that in increasing our engineering workforce we ran the risk of not having enough work for them when the present arrears are cleared. I have no fears on this score. The telephone service in this country has been growing rapidly in recent years but the scope for development is virtually unlimited, subject to the necessary funds being made available for expansion. Our rate of telephones per 1,000 of the population is still very low and according as we improve the service and eliminate the waiting list the attractions the service offers and rising standards of living will continue to increase the demand for telephones. I am fully satisfied of this and we must plan and are planning to meet all such demands.
On the manual operating side, despite the conversion of exchanges to automatic working and the widespread introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling, the number of day telephonists employed has been substantially increased and some 1,486 are now employed as compared with 946 five years ago. We have been generous in the employment of telephonists so that when subscribers were experiencing difficulty through the shortage of trunk lines or equipment, at least they should have ready access to the help of a telephonist.
In replying to the debate on the Estimate for the current year on 14th May last, I said (Vol. 209, Col. 1545) that in about a year and a half from then, that is, November, 1965, we should be in a position to deal more vigorously with the waiting list for telephones, and I indicated that we would at that stage make a fresh appraisal of the situation. I am happy to say that I hope to improve on that forecast and that it will be possible to begin within a few months to devote an increased part of our resources to subscriber installation work. My intention is to offer service to as many as possible of those people whose applications are longest on hands. Unfortunately, many of these older cases involve a great deal of construction work and their clearance will limit the total number of lines that can be provided. Nevertheless, I am confident that the total connections in 1965/66 will substantially exceed those made in the current year.
Before leaving the telephone service, I wish to give some details of an important recent development affecting it to which I referred in my review of the subheads, namely, the prospect of getting transatlantic circuits by way of a satellite system.
When introducing the Estimate for 1964/65, I mentioned my Department's interest in the developments regarding communication satellites, because of our growing telephone traffic with North America, and I said that if full agreement could be reached with the United States and Canada we, together with other European administrations, intended to contribute capital for a proposed global commercial satellite system. The system envisaged included a high-altitude space satellite over the Atlantic, linking ground stations on either side.
Full accord was reached in July, 1964, and Agreements, copies of which were presented to the Dáil by the Department of External Affairs, were signed on behalf of Ireland in October. Under these Agreements Ireland will contribute to the capital cost of the space section of the system, will be allotted an appropriate proportion of its capacity and will, in effect, be entitled to transatlantic circuits at cost. Our contribution is expected to be about £250,000. Payments will be made monthly over a period of four years according as the expenditure is incurred. A total of about £15,000 will be paid under this head during 1964/65 and a further £50,000 in 1965/66. These payments are being made out of the Vote for my Department and the Vote will be recouped from Telephone Capital Funds.
In order to gain access to the space section of the system, telephone circuits from Ireland must be routed through a ground station in Europe. The nearest such station is the British one at Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall. The British Post Office have agreed in principle to allow us to use the facilities of Goonhilly but the terms have yet to be agreed. Normally we would expect to pay a rental in respect of each of the circuits we require. The British Post Office have offered an attractive alternative under which we would contribute towards the capital cost of the earth station and would have rights of use of a proportion of its capacity.
In effect, this would mean that we would become part owners of the station and would share the costs, risks, profits and losses. We would contribute £250,000 approximately spread over the next two or three years, plus about £10,000 per annum in respect of running costs. In the early stages the cost per circuit on this basis would be high but, as traffic grows and the capacity of the system expands, the cost per circuit is expected to fall substantially. Accordingly, provided the system of satellite communications is a commercial success, it is felt that, in the long term, investment in Goonhilly should be well worthwhile because it would enable us to get at cost price the ever-increasing number of telephone circuits we need across the Atlantic. It is, therefore, proposed to discuss the matter further with the British Post Office and, if full agreement can be reached, to invest in Goonhilly on the lines of their offer.
During 1964 deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank amounted to £25.8 millions, and withdrawals to £22.8 millions, showing in both cases substantial increases over the previous year. The total balance, including interest, due to depositors had been £101.9 millions at the 31st December, 1963, and at the end of 1964 it was £107.5 millions.
Sales of Savings Certificates during 1964 amounted to £6.2 millions, and repayments, including interest, to £3.5 millions. At the 31st December, 1964, the value of principal remaining invested was £33.7 millions, an increase of £3.5 millions during the year, compared with an increase of £2.1 millions during 1963.
Post Offices throughout the country continue to co-operate in the issue of Prize Bonds and have been responsible for collecting over £12 millions out of the total of £41 millions worth of Prize Bonds issued up to this year.
The Savings Committee must be given credit for a great share in the continued buoyancy of the national savings movement, which is so important to our general financial stability, and its members deserve our warmest thanks for their valuable work.
There is a continuing growth in the volume of funds handled by the Department's remittance services. The total value of money orders and postal orders issued during 1964 was £27.6 millions, an increase of £2.9 millions over 1963.
Social Welfare and other agency payments during 1964 totalled £39 millions, an increase of about £5 millions on the preceding year.
During 1964 a new Post Office at Wicklow and a new District Sorting Office at Finglas, Dublin, were opened. Major improvement works, including the provision of attractively designed public offices, were completed at Arklow and Ennis post offices, and a new telephone exchange building was erected at Carlow.
In February this year a new post office, with accommodation for an automatic telephone exchange, was opened at Ballinasloe. Work is well advanced on a new post office and automatic telephone exchange building at Youghal and on a new District Sorting Office and Automatic Telephone Exchange building to serve the Coolock/Raheny area of Dublin. The building to house the new trunk telephone exchange in Dame Court, Dublin, although delayed by the strike last year, is now making good progress. Work is also in progress on buildings for a new auto-manual telephone exchange at Tralee, for major new automatic telephone exchanges at Kilkenny, Tipperary, Wellington Road (Cork) and Wexford, and for 60 rural automatic exchanges. Tenders have been invited for the erection of a new post office at Carlow.
Work is progressing satisfactorily on the new Central Sorting Office for Dublin.
Some 47 sites have been acquired for further rural automatic exchanges, another 44 sites are in process of acquisition, and 24 more have been selected.
The number of staff provided for in the Estimate is 18,669 an increase of 571 over last year's figure, and as I have already indicated, the additional staff are required mainly for engineering and telephone operating work arising in connection with the telephone development programme.
To supplement the intake of graduate engineers through the normal Civil Service Commission competitions we have recently introduced two Scholarship Schemes—one open to Secondary School Leaving Certificate holders and the other confined to certain non-professional grades in the Engineering Branch. Under these schemes the successful candidates will attend courses of study to enable them to obtain professional engineering qualifications. Although it will be about four years before these scholarship holders qualify as engineers, I am confident that in time the schemes will be of great assistance in securing that sufficient engineers will be available for the development of the service in the future.
All Post Office grades secured a ninth round pay increase of 12 per cent with effect from 1st February, 1964, and, in addition, most grades have obtained separate pay increases as a result of status claims dealt with during the period since October, 1963. Subpostmasters also received both ninth round and status increases. The claims of only a few groups now remain to be dealt with, the biggest of these being engineering inspectors and professional engineers. The inspectors' claim will probably be heard soon by the Arbitration Board and it is hoped to resume discussions shortly at the Departmental Conciliation Council on the claim of the professional engineers. In addition, a claim for re-organisation of the technician and installer grades in the Engineering Branch is under consideration.
The Commission which I appointed in April last to enquire into certain aspects of the sub-post office system submitted its report to me recently and this is now being examined.
The five-day week which was introduced for general Civil Service grades in July, 1964, has been extended to many Post Office staff, including those in the Engineering and Stores Branches. A claim for a five-day week for other Post Office grades including Post Office clerks, telephonists and postmen, is under consideration by the Departmental Conciliation Council.
The Department continues to keep its organisation and staffing arrangements under constant and critical examination with a view to increasing efficiency and keeping the costs of its services as low as possible, and I have mentioned some of the improvements made or planned in my references to the various services.
When replying in May last to the debate on the current year's Estimate, I detailed some of the economies and improvements in methods which have been secured hitherto. Further economies continue to be yielded from such measures as the introduction of automatic data processing for savings bank and telephone accounts work. We have under active consideration at present the possibility of extending the range of uses of ADP, and in addition to what we are doing ourselves we are in communication with a number of firms of consultants on this subject.
I am glad to express in the House my thanks to all members of the Department's staff for their work throughout the past year.
The Commercial Accounts for 1963/64, the last completed year of account, have been laid on the table of the House and a summary of the results for that year and for the four preceding years is given in Appendix D to the Estimate.
In 1963/64 the Commercial Accounts showed a net deficit on all the services of £165,000. A note to the Accounts explains, however, that income amounting to £125,000, proper to 1962/63 but not ascertained in time for inclusion in the accounts for that year, was included exceptionally in the income for 1963/64. Accordingly, the true deficit on the year's working in 1963/64 was approximately £290,000. It is not possible to say yet what the outcome of the current year will be but present indications are there will be a deficit of about £300,000. Deputies may recollect that, when introducing the Estimate for the current year and explaining why increases in charges had to be made, I mentioned that even allowing for the increased income, there would probably be deficits of that order in 1963/64 and 1964/65. I am hopeful that, in the absence of unfavourable developments, we should about break even in the coming financial year.
It has been, as Deputies know, the settled policy of Ministers that, in the long term, the Post Office should pay its way on a commercial basis. That it has not done so last year and in the current year is a consequence of the unprecedented rise in staff costs over the last eighteen months. Although this rise has imposed a severe strain on the finances of the Department and necessitated substantial increases in charges, the Minister for Finance, I, and the Government, have taken the view that Post Office staffs should receive what were determined to be fair rates of pay for their services.
It is obvious, however, that the financial position of the Department will require careful watching. The deficit of £300,000 on an income estimated this year at over £17 millions is not unduly disturbing, having regard to the policy to which I have referred of taking one year with another in assessing the financial outcome of the Post Office services, and because unless further adverse changes occur I hope that a modest profit will be earned in the next few years. Nevertheless, any indication that the situation was worsening would give cause for grave concern. There is no margin, at present, for absorbing any additional costs which may arise from causes outside the Department's control, and so high a proportion of our costs consists of wages, salaries and related payments— about 66 per cent of the total currently —that very substantial economies can be achieved only over a long period.
Apart from wage increases there are other factors making for higher costs. Higher pay rates are resulting in higher retirement payments. The concentration on the expansion and improvement of the substructure of the telecommunications network—exchanges, circuits, etc.—has necessitated heavy investments of capital, on which interest has to be paid and depreciation provided, but which may not bring in proportionate additional revenue for some time. The growth of cities and suburbs has necessitated the provision of more postmen, delivery offices, etc. in these areas, although the decline in rural population, does not enable proportionate reductions to be made in the staff and offices serving them.
We must, therefore, continue to make every improvement possible in the efficiency of our methods and organisation, promote the development of services likely to give an adequate return on expenditure, and review carefully any obviously uneconomic services.
As in past years I propose to confine my remarks to more important matters concerning the Broadcasting and Television Authority's development and to those in which, as Minister, I have a statutory function.
The statutory authority for the payment of State grants under section 22 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, will expire on 31st March, 1965. Fresh broadcasting legislation is being prepared and will be introduced as soon as possible. In the meantime the grant has been calculated on the assumption that the Oireachtas will wish that the Authority should continue to receive the net proceeds of broadcasting licence revenue for a further period. This will obviate the necessity for the introduction of a Supplementary Estimate after the new Bill has been passed.
After deducting the costs of licence collection, a sum of about £603,000 is being provided for sound broadcasting in 1965/66 and the balance is being provided for the television service. These figures take into account that £1 5s. out of each £5 licence is intended for the sound broadcasting service. The amount being provided for sound broadcasting plus sound advertising revenue will not be sufficient to meet the expenditure on that service in 1965/66, particularly in view of pay increases and increased costs. The deficit will have to be made good out of the Authority's general revenue.
Under the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act, 1964, the limit for repayable capital advances specified in section 23 (2) (b) of the Act of 1960, namely £2 million, was increased to £3 million. While the full amount has been earmarked for specific capital purposes, the Authority has not as yet found it necessary to avail itself of any of the capital provided under the 1964 Act. So far this year it has happily been able to meet its capital needs from its own resources. In this connection Deputies will remember that the Authority had an operating surplus of £273,000 last year. It will be some time before final figures for the current year will be available but I understand that the Authority's overall surplus is expected to be higher than last year's figure.
During the year one of the most important developments was, perhaps, the bringing into operation of some of the 12 satellite "transposers" which are intended to serve areas of poor television reception. Four of these are now in operation and serve areas in South Dublin, Cork city, Cobh and Monkstown, County Cork. I understand that the transmitter for the booster station in Monaghan will be installed shortly in a newly erected building and that testing will probably commence towards the end of this month. The Authority also hopes to have the transposers at Letterkenny and Moville in operation in a matter of months. When all 12 additional transmitters are functioning, we should have almost full nationwide coverage.
I referred last April to the decision to provide a VHF service to improve sound broadcasting coverage. I now understand that the equipment for this service is on order and, if conditions are favourable, the Authority expects it should be possible to commence broadcasting in about a year's time. The VHF aerials will be erected on the sites of the five main television transmitters—Kippure, Mount Leinster, Mullaghanish, Truskmore and Maghera and the completion of the work will depend on weather conditions experienced while the work is in progress.
I would like here to pay a tribute to the forbearance of those listeners who have had to suffer inadequate radio reception for so long. In some parts of the country interference from foreign stations was particularly bad this winter and representations have been made to the administrations concerned. I am hopeful that these representations will bear some fruit.
At present the Authority's authorised regular television transmissions, throughout the year, excluding educational programmes, are 43 hours, approximately, per week with permission to average up to 47 hours per week to allow for broadcasts in respect of special events. In June, 1964, I approved of the Authority's proposal to devote three hours per week to educational programmes during the 1964/65 school year, on condition that the resulting additional costs would be refunded to it. In October, 1964, I agreed, subject to certain conditions, to the Authority's proposal to extend television broadcasting by 2¾ hours per week for eight months of the year so as to permit of Sunday afternoon programmes.
I received a number of complaints during the year regarding the interference caused to reception of programmes by various types of electrical equipment and these were all referred to the Authority for investigation. Considerable investigation into the interference caused by industrial, scientific and medical equipment has been made by members of my advisory committee but because of the extent and nature of the problem it will be some time before a satisfactory solution can be found. I also understand that limited progress has been made, through the co-operation of television set manufacturers, in reducing the level of interference known as "line time base radiation" that is interference by TV receivers with reception of sound programmes and the question of introducing a specification for television sets is being pursued.
Deputies will recall the importance I attached to the existence of a close liaison between the Authority and the Film Censor. A working arrangement has been concluded with the Film Censor, Dr. C.A. Macken, whereby he will act as a special consultant to the Authority, but the Authority will, of course, remain fully responsible for the content of films shown on television.
A lot has been written in recent times about the activities of "pirate" broadcasting stations operating on board ships anchored outside national territories. These stations, which are financed by commercial interests, operate contrary to the provisions of the international radio regulations. They cause interference with other radio services and are gravely prejudicial to broadcasting interests. In December last the Council of Europe at a meeting of Ministers' Deputies in Paris approved of a draft Agreement which was opened for signature at Strasbourg on 20th January last. This Agreement is entitled "European Agreement for the Prevention of Broadcasts transmitted from Stations outside National Territories" and each party to the Agreement undertakes to take appropriate steps to make punishable as offences, the establishment or operation of such broadcasting stations as well as acts of collaboration knowingly performed. Such acts would include matters like the provision, maintenance or repairing of equipment; the provision of supplies, the provision of services concerning advertising for the benefit of the stations and the production etc. of advertisements. The Government recently decided that the Agreement should be signed on behalf of Ireland, subject to ratification.
I mentioned in April last that the Authority had no direct technical link with the Eurovision system although many Eurovision programmes have in fact been broadcast by taking them "off the air" from the BBC or the ITA. Additional equipment is being provided at Kippure and at the repeater station at Mohercrom, on the Sligo link, which will enable programmes to be sent or received through Belfast, where extra equipment will also be provided. Thus a direct relay link to Europe through Belfast will be available. The Authority will become a full active member of Eurovision with unrestricted access to programmes when the permanent operative link is available. I cannot say at the moment when this scheme will be completed but it is certainly a laudable step.
