asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if, in view of the inconvenience caused to residents in the locality, he will reconsider his decision to close the Killedmond sub-post office at Borris, County Carlow.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Borris (Carlow) Sub-Post Office.
7.
In view of the small amount of business transacted, the re-opening of the sub-post office in question would not, I regret, be warranted.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of the large number of old age pensioners using this sub-post office and the fact that many of them have not got relatives or others to collect their pensions for them at a far away post office?
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not consider having consultations with the Minister for Social Welfare with a view to arranging that in cases where old age pensioners are more than three miles from a post office, they could nominate a shop, similar to the way they can now nominate a post office, at which they can collect their pensions?
In reply to the supplementary by Deputy Pattison, I am aware there are a number of old age pensioners who can be inconvenienced in this regard. I am not aware of the absence or presence of relatives. However, there is a satisfactory arrangement whereby it is not obligatory on pensioners to collect their pensions personally from any of the adjacent suboffices. I find it hard to believe that pensioners could not get somebody to collect the pensions on their behalf.
In reply to Deputy Nolan, the question he raised is a rather big one. It would necessitate quite an amount of discussion, I am sure, between the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. However, it is something that could be looked into. I would not be inclined to think it is easy of solution.
Seeing that the Parliamentary Secretary, from the tone of his reply, is not going to change his decision in this matter, will he make arrangements to provide an appropriate telephone kiosk as an alternative?
That is a different question.
They are closing one telephone, if the sub-post office closes. The people should get that service, at least.
The amount of business done with the telephone in the public office which closed recently would certainly appear to make uneconomic the provision of a public kiosk. However, it is something that is having attention at the moment, although the indications are that it would not be justified.
It is not a question of economics but of necessity. There are quite a number of poor people in the area and they may require to use a telephone if one of them gets sick or is seriously ill, for example.
To judge by the amount of use made of the public telephone over the past few years, one would get the impression that it did not seem to have been very essential——
Mr. O'Leary
Probably it was too expensive.
In other words, just to make a profit.
It is not to make a profit, necessarily.
That is the new Minister's dispensation, is it not?
I know that the Parliamentary Secretary is new to this Department but is he aware that some old age pensioners who have not relations to collect their pensions for them have to travel long distances to collect their pensions? In some cases, it is actually over seven miles. In the light of another supplementary question, I think, by Deputy Pattison, about a telephone kiosk, surely it should be erected for the convenience of the people in the area? As far as I can see, no matter where you ask for a telephone kiosk in a rural area at the moment, the answer you get is that it is uneconomic. Surely there is more than the economic factor to be considered? If a person wants a priest, a doctor or a veterinary surgeon, for example, surely there should be a public telephone within a reasonable distance?
You cannot have them unless you can make a profit.
Is there no answer from the Parliamentary Secretary?
Question No. 8.