asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will make the necessary arrangements to have a public telephone kiosk erected at Claran, County Galway.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Provision of Kiosks.
50.
Provision of kiosks in areas such as Claran where there is no post office is not envisaged under the extended kiosk programme for rural areas.
51.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will have a telephone kiosk installed at Thomastown, Golden, County Tipperary, as the numbers would seem to warrant such an installation.
Provision of kiosks in areas such as Thomastown where there is no post office is not envisaged under the extended kiosk programme for rural areas.
52.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the locations in which telephone kiosks are to be erected in County Cork under the new five year plan.
The information requested by the Deputy is not, I regret available. Selection of centres for inclusion in the five year extended rural kiosk programme is being based mainly on the extent to which the call office telephone is used in the local post office. This use is growing rapidly in some areas and decreasing in others and it would be premature to decide several years in advance the order in which the rural kiosks will be provided. Accordingly, at this stage, a firm programme has been settled only for the year from 1st April, 1970.
The 1970-71 programme includes replacement of call office telephones by kiosks in 15 centres in County Cork. Three have already been erected, at Farnanes, Mogeely and Rostellan. The remaining 12 centres are Aghadown, Ballinadee, Ballinspittle, Butlerstown, Castlefreke, Clondrohid, Dungourney, Glenville, Kilmurray, Lemlara, Myrtleville and Shanagarry.
53.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware of the need for a telephone kiosk in the village of Dunmore, County Kilkenny; and if he will now sanction its provision.
Provision of kiosks in areas such as Dunmore where there is no post office is not envisaged under the extended kiosk programme for rural areas.
What alternatives will the people in an area like Dunmore have if they cannot afford a private phone and they have no motor transport to get to a phone? Is the Minister further aware there have been a number of fatalities in this area in recent times and it is quite possible those could have been avoided if there was a telephone readily available?
A number of areas are a certain distance from large centres and they have not telephones. This is why a five year programme has been set up. The Deputy picks out Dunmore and, to be quite honest, Dunmore is generally pretty well-served in many ways, in so far as it has a Minister living in the District and therefore it is hardly likely to be neglected. I cannot see how the existence of a telephone kiosk can be claimed to prevent road accidents. It is a new one on me.
It could be of use after an accident. This is a very busy road.
I appreciate that fact. It is on the main road between Kilkenny and Abbeyleix and that makes it a very important road.
One could ask the next fellow coming along to go to a phone.