asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether an applicant for the transfer of an existing phone gets priority over an applicant for a new phone on the same circuit; how soon an applicant whose phone number appears in the recently published directory will have the phone installed; and what information is made available in the meantime to a person calling the published number to explain why it is not operational.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Applications.
95.
An existing subscriber seeking transfer of a telephone gets priority over a new applicant unless the new applicant is also in the priority category; if the need arose to choose between two priority applicants a decision would be made on the merits.
It is expected that telephones will be installed within about a fortnight for those applicants whose telephone numbers are in the 1970 directory and who are ready to accept service. There are no arrangements for advising callers to such numbers in the meantime why they are not operational.