I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1971, 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.
This token Supplementary Estimate of £10 is being taken to enable Deputies to discuss the Estimate amounting to £30,547,000 for my Department for the financial year 1970-71 which was passed before Christmas.
If there is no objection, I propose that the discussion should also cover the second Supplementary Estimate of £4,300,000 which will be needed for my Department before the 31st March next.
As we are now nearing the end of the financial year, and as the expenditure proposed in the main Estimate has already been approved, I propose, with the permission of the House, not to enter into the usual detailed comparison of subheads with the 1969-70 provisions.
The second Supplementary Estimate is necessary to provide for additional expenditure totalling £5,835,000 under eight different subheads, but savings of £243,000 under subhead C and an expected increase of £1,292,000 in Appropriations-in-Aid reduce the amount required by £1,535,000 to £4,300,000 net.
The great bulk of the additional amount required, £3.9 million, is under subhead A for pay increases granted during the year.
Under subhead B an extra £142,000 is required mainly to meet higher rates of travelling and subsistence allowances and the costs of travelling to courses on decimalisation, et cetera.
The excess of £160,000 under subhead D is due to the incidence of presentation and clearance of accounts for air mail conveyance.
The increase of £80,000 under subhead E is due to increased costs of mechanical transport and of producing the telephone directory, and higher expenditure on stamps, stamped stationery and miscellaneous stores.
Under subhead F an extra £1,135,000 is required to pay for engineering stores and equipment and work done by contractors, mainly on telephone development.
An extra £8,000 is required under subhead I mainly in respect of compensation for losses in the post.
The additional £10,000 under subhead K is for legal and other expenses connected with the tribunal which inquired into the RTE "7 Days" televi sion programme on illegal moneylending, the cost of which cannot be closely estimated.
Under subhead L £400,000 extra is required so that the Grant-in-Aid paid to Radio Telefís Éireann in 1970-71 will take into account the receipts from the higher broadcasting licence fees which came into operation as from 1st July, 1970.
On the receipts side, the increase of £1,292,000 under subhead T, Appropriations-in-Aid, arises mainly from the expected recovery of an additional £1,050,000 from telephone capital funds, because expenditure on telephone development will be higher than the provision in the original Estimate.
Over 460 million letters were handled in 1969, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year. The volume of air mail correspondence rose by 10 per cent. Postings of first-class mail by air were 4 per cent higher and postings of second class matter rose by 28 per cent. The number of parcels handled in 1969 was 2 per cent higher than in 1968.
Comparable figures for 1970 are not yet available. As might be expected there was a falling off in traffic in the current financial year following the increases in postal charges last October. This was particularly noticeable in the Christmas period when traffic was about 20 per cent down on the previous year. Overall, however, the drop appears to have been far less. There is, of course, a very considerable drop at present as a result of the strike in the British Post Office.
The volume of business at post office counters has continued to grow. This business covers a wide range of services on behalf of other Government Departments apart from those required for purely post office purposes.
A high standard of mail service continues to be given. Over 90 per cent of internal letters posted in time for outward despatches are delivered on the next delivery day. For parcels and second-class mail the standard is well above that normally given elsewhere. The bulk of outward letter mail is despatched by air on the day of posting and, with few exceptions, letters received from abroad are delivered not later than the following working day.
A major change in the delivery service in Dublin was made in August, 1970, when delivery of ordinary mail on Saturday was discontinued. Postmen have been looking for a five-day week for some years. The claim on their behalf was approached on the basis of giving them a staggered day-off while preserving existing standards of service. This possibility was examined in great detail but because of the special problems involved it was not possible to devise acceptable schemes on this basis except for a small number of delivery postmen. In 1969, the union representing postmen advised that many delivery postmen, particularly those in Dublin, wanted a Monday to Friday five-day week. To help in their consideration of the claim, the Department commissioned a market research firm to carry out a survey to ascertain the needs and wishes of the public in the context of the delivery postmen's demands for Saturday off. In the light of the survey findings, it was concluded that normal postal deliveries could be ceased, on an experimental basis, in Dublin and Dún Laoghaire. Accordingly, agreement was reached that Saturday deliveries should cease in Dublin on 22nd August last and in Dún Laoghaire area on 6th February. Registered and express items continue to be delivered on Saturday, and collections continue to be made on that day so there is no delay in the forwarding of post. The question of granting Saturday off to delivery postmen in the rest of the country is due to be considered at the Conciliation Council shortly.
During 1969 75 motorised delivery services were introduced in rural areas and a further 49 were added in 1970. There are now about 440 motorised rural services in operation and about 30 per cent of the total route mileage has been motorised.
Two hundred and sixty-one new postmen posts were created in 1969 and 1970. Some of these posts were needed because of the concession of a shorter working week for full-time postmen but, in general, the extra posts were for increased mail work arising in urban areas as a result of housing and other development. Most of the new posts were in the Dublin postal district.
The issue of the new series of definitive stamps was completed in the early part of 1969. A special stamp was issued on 21st January, 1969, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first assembly of Dáil Éireann. Other special issues in 1969 were for the 50th anniversary of the International Labour Office, the centenary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and a stamp featuring one of the works of the late Evie Hone. We also joined in the issue of a Europa stamp. This stamp which is issued annually in a different design is sponsored by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations. The stamp is intended to symbolise the unity of interests of member administrations.
Seven stamps were issued in 1970 on the following subjects:
European Conservation Year;
250th anniversary of the founding of yachting in Ireland and of the Royal Cork Yacht Club;
50th anniversary of the deaths of Terence MacSwiney, Tomás MacCurtain and Kevin Barry;
Irish Art, featuring a work by Mainie Jellet and a Europa theme.
The 1970 Europa stamp was of special interest because it was designed by the Irish artist Louis le Brocquy.
Special postage stamps will be issued in 1971 to commemorate the centenaries of the births of Synge and Jack B. Yeats and to mark international year for action to combat racism and racial discrimination. The latter is sponsored by the United Nations. The programme will be completed by the Europa stamp and by the issue, for the first time, of a special Christmas stamp.
A new series of definitive stamps in decimal values was introduced on 15th February, 1971. The designs are the same as on the previous definitive stamps but the value is indicated by a figure only. There are also some colour changes. The Government have decided that a special stamp with a symbolic design will be issued in 1972-73 to commemorate the many leading figures on both sides who died during the period of the civil war.
The number of telegrams handled in 1969 was 1,270,000 or 3.3 per cent less than in the previous year, and in 1970 it was 1,220,000, a reduction of 4 per cent on the 1969 figure.
The remarkable growth of the telex service was maintained during 1969 and 1970. Some 200 new subscribers were added in 1969 and 270 in 1970 making a total of 1,090 at the end of 1970. The number of telex subscribers has more than doubled in the past three years. The use of telex on a rapidly expanding scale by the largest and most progressive concerns, particularly in connection with export activities, testifies to its importance for business, industrial and commercial purposes. Accordingly, planning is on the basis of meeting the high annual growth rate over the next few years. The capacity of the main telex exchange at Dublin and of the satellite exchanges at Cork and Shannon was doubled in 1969-1970. A new satellite exchange will be opened at Waterford early this year. Limerick and one other centre will have satellite exchanges within a few years and plans for further extension of existing exchanges are in train.
With the introduction of automatic telex service to Spain, Portugal and Greece on 1st February, automatic service is now available to all Western European countries. Arrangements have been made to introduce automatic service to the USA in late February or early March. When this service is available only a very minute proportion of our telex traffic—less than 1 per cent—will have to be handled by an operator at the Dublin telex exchange.
About 60 per cent of all calls made by telex subscribers are to places outside the country and the number of calls to and from other countries is increasing rapidly. To cater for this traffic, additional external circuits were provided during 1969-1970 on the cross-Channel routes, which carry much of our foreign telex calls, and on the transatlantic route to the United States. Direct circuits to Germany were also brought into service in that year.
Within the past year, further circuits were provided on the cross-Channel and Dublin/Germany routes. The number of circuits to the USA will be more than doubled shortly.
As a result of international agreements, the charge for telex calls from here to the USA and Canada was reduced by about 25 per cent in April, 1970; significant reductions were made in charges for calls to a number of European countries, including France, Germany and Italy later in 1970; and the charges for calls to Spain, Greece and Portugal were reduced as from 1st February, 1971, when automatic service was introduced to these countries.
Telex subscribers will be able to get cheaper calls to America when the Dublin/USA route goes automatic shortly. The present minimum charge of 45s for a three minute call to the USA will not apply to calls selected automatically by subscribers. Instead charging will be on the basis of 6d (2½p) per two seconds. In connection with the introduction of automatic service to the USA it was necessary for technical reasons to make an adjustment in the basic unit of charge in the telex service with effect from 1st February, 1971. This will result in an increase in the cost of some calls on other automatic routes. Telex subscribers who make a reasonable number of calls to the USA will benefit from the new arrangements but other subscribers will pay more for their calls. In order to offset the average increase in call charges for subscribers who do not make calls to the USA, the basic telex rental has been reduced by £15 a year for all subscribers with effect from 1st February, 1971.
About 14 firms are at present using the telephone/telegraph system for data transmission. In some cases transmission is over privately leased circuits, and in others over the public telephone network. Three firms are transmitting data over the public telephone network to Britain. One firm is transmitting data direct to New York from Dublin by leased line and a few other firms have data access to the USA via Dublin/London and London/ USA circuits.
The telephone service continued to expand during 1969 and 1970.
The number of telephone calls made in the financial year ended March, 1970 was over 300 million. Trunk calls at about 38 million were up by 14 per cent on the previous year; local calls were over 2 per cent higher at 263 million. In the first half of the current financial year trunk calls were up by about 12 per cent and local calls by about 6 per cent as compared with the same period last year.
Applications for telephones in 1970 were some 17 per cent greater than in 1969 and the waiting list grew to 14,000. Although connections at 24,000 in 1970 were 60 per cent higher than five years ago, demand for telephones in the same period rose by 88 per cent.
Over 100 new telephone kiosks, including 65 rural kiosks, were provided in 1969-70 and a further 99 kiosks, including 73 rural kiosks, were provided in the nine months ended December, 1970.
In the 1971 Telephone Directory the new style numbering was extended to include all automatic areas equipped for subscriber trunk dialling—STD. New style entries are shown with the STD code in brackets before the number in lieu of the former exchange name in the same way as the "01" area numbers listed in Part II of the 1970 issue. The addresses of many of the subscribers concerned were amplified in the directory listing for identification purposes when the exchange names were replaced by STD codes. The new style numbering will facilitate and encourage the use of direct dialling facilities.
It is hoped that direct dialling of trunk calls—STD—will be introduced between Dublin and London and between Dublin and Belfast later this year.
The charges for telephone calls to the United States and Canada were reduced in April, 1970 and the charge of 30s for ineffective person-to-person calls was abolished. The reductions followed agreement between telecommunication administrations in Europe and North America to revise charges on completion of a new high capacity transatlantic submarine cable.
An automatic time service, generally known as the speaking clock, was introduced in July, 1970 for the 01 area. It has proved very popular. Over a half-million calls were made to the service in the six months after its inauguration.
The basic exchange system has been expanded more or less continuously to cater for the increasing demands on the service. Progress with the extension of the automatic system continued during the period under review. In 1969-70, 29 manual exchanges were converted to automatic working, 74 automatic exchanges were extended to provide for future subscriber and traffic growth and 130 manual exchanges were similarly extended. In the first nine months of the current financial year, 34 manual exchanges became automatic and 37 automatic and 80 manual exchanges were extended. In addition new manual exchanges were put into service at Castlebar, Castlerea, Donegal and Listowel.
Over 1,000 trunk circuits were added to about 250 routes during 1969-70 and a further 800 circuits were added to 140 routes up to December, 1970, including an extra 273 on the cross-Channel route. Since April, 1969, nine transatlantic circuits to the USA have been brought into service, making a total of 20.
The more important works carried out included trunk cable schemes serving Boyle, Ennis, Fermoy, Killarney, Listowel and Westport and new underground trunk cables serving Glengarriff, Cappoquin, Lismore and Athy. Coaxial cable schemes between Arklow-Gorey-Enniscorthy; Cahirciveen-Killorglin; Ennis-Ennistymon; Ennis-Kilrush and Letterkenny-Dungloe were completed. Since April, 1970, a major coaxial cable serving Athlone - Castlerea - Claremorris - Castlebar - Ballina was brought into service. Among the routes improved were many radiating from Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo. A list of other routes on which additional circuits were provided will be found in the notes which I circulated recently for the assistance of Deputies in discussing this Estimate.
Provision of high capacity radio links connecting Dublin and Cork, Portlaoise and Athlone is well advanced. Work in progress or planned also includes provision of radio links between Portlaoise-Thurles, Limerick - Shannon - Ennis, Dublin - Dundalk, Tralee - Cork, Waterford - Campile and a second Dublin/Belfast/ cross-Channel radio link.
Major coaxial cable schemes are in progress or planned for the following routes: Killarney-Kenmare, Portlaoise-Birr, Galway - Clifden, Waterford - Dungarvan, Tralee - Killarney, Dundalk-Carrickmacross, Waterford-Clonmel, Cork - Fermoy and Listowel - Tralee.
We still unfortunately have a number of areas where the service is below standard because of overloading of trunk or exchange equipment. Some of these areas are awaiting the installation of equipment ordered a considerable time ago. In others it has been a question of difficulty in dealing within the resources at our disposal with all the areas where improvements were needed.
It will nevertheless be clear from what I have said that a considerable effort has been made to improve the service and to meet public demand. To do so has required, among other things, recruitment and training of staffs at all levels. While we are far from satisfying our needs in this regard we have succeeded in building up sufficient skilled staff resources to make substantial progress particularly in getting many major schemes to the work in progress and advanced planning stages. We could look forward therefore if financial conditions permitted to an acceleration in the rate of development generally and particularly in the carrying out of improvement works in areas where the service is below standard. However, telephone development works make heavy demands on capital and unfortunately there is a serious shortage of capital in relation to the various demands of the public services at present.
So far as the telephone service is concerned the amount of capital available for the coming year which has not yet been settled will be a major factor in determining the extent to which it will be possible to implement schemes for improvement and expansion of the service.
During the financial year 1969-70 new post offices and telephone buildings were erected at Claremorris and Macroom and extensive new warehouse buildings for the Stores Branch were completed at St. John's Road, Dublin. New telephone buildings and extensions to existing buildings were completed at many centres including Merrion — Dublin, Balbriggan and Wicklow. Additional accommodation was provided at Dublin and at other major centres for offices, training and other purposes.
Since April, 1970 new automatic telephone exchange buildings were completed at Tramore and at a number of rural centres. Improvements in manual telephone exchange or postal accommodation were carried out at Castlebar, Cavan, Boyle, Gorey and Dún Laoghaire.
Works in progress or contracted for include a telecommunications staff headquarters and international trunk exchange centre at Marlborough Street, Dublin, a major telephone exchange building at Ballsbridge, Dublin, a district sorting office at Ballyfermot, new post office and telephone buildings at Cavan and Cahirciveen, a new post office at Portlaoise, and telephone building works—new or extensions—at numerous other centres including Rathmines and Dundrum—Dublin, Clonmel, Cobh, Drogheda, Dundalk, Ennis, Nenagh and Thurles.
A new colour scheme and official symbol have been adopted and are now being used on new post office vehicles. The scheme and symbol were the work of the Kilkenny Design Centre.
A great deal of extra work was thrown on the Department during the period of approximately six months when the banks were closed. Special arrangements were made to keep post offices throughout the country supplied with funds to meet the increased demand of the public for the services normally provided by the Department and other services requested by Government Departments.
The public used the money order and postal order services to a much greater extent than normal for remitting money to other parts of the country and to Great Britain. Savings Bank business also increased very substantially. The normal payment of old age pensions, children's allowances and other social welfare benefits was continued, and, in addition, the Department facilitated the public, but particularly the less well-off sections of the community, in every reasonable way it could within the limits of its resources.
Deposits by members of the general public in the Post Office Savings Bank amounted to £25.1 million during 1969 and withdrawals to £27.1 million. At 31st December, 1969, the total balance due to depositors, including interest amounting to £4.6 million, was approximately £120.8 million, an increase of £2.6 million on the figure for 31st December, 1968.
During 1970 the volume of Post Office Savings Bank business was abnormally high because of the banks dispute. Provisional figures for the year show that deposits amounted to £57 million, or £13.6 million more than withdrawals.
Net deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank by the Trustee Savings Banks amounted to £3.2 million in 1969. The total amount to the credit of the Trustee Savings Banks at the end of 1969, including £6.9 million in the special investment account, was £26.9 million, an increase of £4.4 million over the previous year. During 1970 net deposits by the Trustee Savings Banks amounted to £5.3 million.
Sales of 6½ per cent investment bonds in 1970 amounted to £1.8 million—a decrease of £3.5 million compared with 1969, the year of their introduction. Repayments in 1970 totalled £0.4 million, an increase of £0.2 million compared with 1969. The balance to the credit of investors at the end of 1970 was £6.5 million compared with £5.1 million at the end of 1969.
Sales of savings certificates during 1969 amounted to £5.5 million, and repayments, including interest, came to £7.2 million. The principal remaining invested at the end of 1969 was £47 million, approximately the same as at the end of 1968.
During 1970 sales of savings certificates amounted to £4.2 million and repayments, including interest, to £5.8 million. The net outflow of £1.6 million was almost the same as in 1969 (£1.7 million).
The national instalment-saving scheme was introduced by the Minister for Finance under the management of my Department on the 1st September, 1970. Under the scheme a person agrees to save 12 monthly instalments of £1, or any number of pounds up to £20, and to leave the total so saved on deposit for a further two years. At the end of that period, the saver will receive a tax-free bonus of 25 per cent of the amount saved. In the four months ended 31st December, 1970, 18,000 agreements to save £3.2 million over a 12 months period were received in my Department. Instalments received in the first four months totalled £800,000.
The aggregate result for 1969 for the savings media with which my Department is directly concerned was a net saving of £4.8 million exclusive of interest. Figures for 1970 are not yet available, but it is probable that the corresponding figure will be of the order of £20 million.
I should like to record my appreciation of the excellent work done by the National Savings Committee in promoting small savings.
The value of money orders issued in 1969 was £37.7 million as compared with £34.2 million in the previous year. Postal order business in 1969 was slightly higher, the value of orders issued being £8.9 million compared with £8.7 million in 1968.
Agency service payments made by the Post Office, mainly on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare, increased from £55 million in 1968 to £64 million in 1969. Post offices took part as usual in the half-yearly sales of prize bonds, handling about 30 per cent of the total collected.
The 1970 figures for remittance and agency services are not yet available, but it is estimated that the value of money orders increased by about £33 million, the value of postal orders by about £4 million and agency payments by about £13 million over the figures for 1969.
The Estimate provides for 20,500 posts for the current financial year, an increase of 740 over the corresponding provision for last year. Most of the additional posts are required for the telecommunications services.
In previous years the House was given some details of the recruitment of professional engineers for telecommunications work and of the Department's scholarship schemes designed to supplement the intake of professional engineers. Recruitment of engineers is proceeding with reasonable success and the scholarship schemes are also going well. The Department at present employs some 180 professional engineers. Since 1964, 31 scholarships have been awarded and further scholarships will be awarded this year. So far, seven students have graduated and are serving as engineers in the Department. The technical trainee scheme, which has been in operation since 1963, has proved invaluable in providing the Department with skilled personnel. It is being reviewed with a view to further improvement. Changes have been made in the entry competition and in the training arrangements, and further changes may be made as a result of the review.
The recruitment and training of telephonists to meet extra operating requirements during the coming summer's peak traffic period is well under way. Well over half of the 700 telephonists required have been taken into training, and arrangements are well in hand to recruit the balance.
The Department's welfare officers, of whom there are six in the Dublin area, one in Cork and one in Limerick, continue to provide a most valuable service to the staff and to the Department.
The Post Office is the second largest employer in this country. The last few years have seen many changes in management/employee relations. The Department, like other large employers, has had to adapt itself to those changes.
Pay and conditions of work are determined under the well-established conciliation and arbitration scheme for the Civil Service. Pay and conditions are however not the only matters of importance to staff nowadays, and they seek greater involvement in all matters which may affect them. Post office staffs and management have joined in recent years in efforts to streamline and improve staff relations procedures. One of the key areas in this regard is staff-management communications, because, in an organisation like the Post Office employing over 20,000 people, any failures in communications could seriously impede the promotion of a spirit of trust and understanding between management and staff. Under the auspices of the Departmental Conciliation Council both sides have been giving special attention to this area.
Other aspects of human relations as they affect the staff in the course of their work are also being studied. By making changes and improvements wherever there appears to be need for them, and the finances of the Department permit, it should be possible to avoid friction and to keep morale high. Towards this end the possibilities of using the behavioural sciences, such as sociology, industrial psychology, et cetera, to help the staff to derive greater personal satisfaction from their work are being examined, and with the agreement of the staff organisations concerned, a pilot exercise involving outside consultants is at present in progress.
Formal training of supervisors in the skills of human relations has been receiving increasing attention in the Post Office in recent years, both in the courses conducted internally in the Department and in those conducted by outside bodies, which the Department's supervisors attend.
At various times the House has been informed of measures taken to raise the level of efficiency in the Department. These include organisation and methods, work study, clerical work measurement, motorisation, mechanisation, use of computers and so forth. Activities in all these fields are a continuing feature of the Department's work and are being intensified wherever there is scope for them. The Department has now ordered a computer and it is expected that delivery will be made in 1972. In the meantime, the Department is having work processed by computer bureaux.
I mentioned earlier the question of training in human relations. The range of the Department's training schemes and the resources allocated to training continue to grow. Training is now given internally in the Department, and in the Civil Service training centre, in most of the skills required for the conduct of the Department's business; and at supervisory and managerial levels the training given is supplemented by releasing officers in the Department's time, and at the Department's expense, to attend courses in facets of management and supervision conducted by organisations such as the Irish Management Institute and the Institute of Public Administration. The Department also draws on the training experience of other postal and telecommunication administrations. Advice and assistance, which I am glad to acknowledge, is obtained from them in suitable cases. This sharing of experience is a two-way process and my Department has been happy to help a number of foreign postal and telecommunication administrations by training some of their staff.
A factor that put considerable strain on our training resources in the current year was the change-over to decimal currency. The Department's decimalisation committee directed and co-ordinated preparations for Decimal Day. The majority of the 20,000 employed by the Department received instruction to a greater or lesser degree in decimalisation, the use of the new coins, et cetera.
Before passing from staffing matters, I would like to take this opportunity of expressing publicly my appreciation of the staff's co-operation during the past year. When special effort was needed—during the banks dispute and the visit of President Nixon to give just two instances—the staff involved rose to the occasion.
The commercial accounts for 1968-69 have been laid before the House. A summary of the results for that year and for the four preceding years is given in Appendix C to the Estimate in the printed volume.
The commercial accounts present the position of the Department as a trading concern. They are compiled in accordance with commercial practice to show the expenditure incurred and the income earned during the year of account, such charges as interest and depreciation being included in the expenditure. A balance sheet and statement of assets give details of the Department's very large capital investments, mainly in telephone plant. The accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
It is on the basis of these accounts that financial policy, including the fixing of charges, is determined. The policy of successive Governments has been that the Post Office should pay its way, taking one year with another. Otherwise the deficit would have to be met by the taxpayer. In 1968-69 there was an overall loss on the Department's services of £823,000 following losses of £467,000 and £430,000 in the two preceding years. In each of these years there was a deficit on the postal and telegraph services and a surplus on the telephone service. Provisional figures for 1969-70 show an overall surplus of about £300,000.
The improvement in the Department's financial position in that year followed the rise in charges as from 1st January, 1969. Again there was a deficit on the postal and telegraph services and a surplus on the telephone service. In the current financial year expenditure has grown substantially, mainly because of the effect in a full year of pay increases granted during 1969-70, followed by 12th round increases for Post Office staff generally and further pay adjustments for certain grades authorised during 1970-71.
Because of these additional burdens substantial increases in charges were necessary. These were decided upon and announced in August last. The new postal and telegraph charges came into effect from 1st October last and the telephone charges from 1st November. These increases are expected to bring in additional revenue of £2.8 million in the current financial year and £5.5 million next year. Nevertheless, an overall loss of about £1 million is expected this year, and present indications are that there will be an overall loss of at least as much in 1971-72.
From what I have said, it will be clear that the recent increases in charges were insufficient to take the Department out of the red. I do not think it necessary at this stage to say anything about the telecommunications charges; these have been generally regarded as not unreasonable. I would like, however, to make a few observations about the postal charges because they were severely criticised in some newspapers. The bulk of the criticism was directed at the rise in the basic inland letter rate from 6d to 9d.
The need for a substantial rise in postal rates should not have come as a shock to anybody. On 27th February, 1969, the then Minister for Posts and Telegraphs stated in his speech on the Post Office Estimate that a 7d postage rate was really warranted and that the yield from the revised postal charges which had been brought into operation as from 1st January, 1969, would not fully cover estimated expenditure. He warned that further pay increases in excess of the rate of growth in Post Office business must inevitably result in further rate adjustments.
Again, my immediate predecessor gave an even clearer warning in his speech on the Estimate on 19th March, 1970. He said that the further big increases in costs expected to result from the 12th round must inevitably raise the question of upward adjustment of rates. He pointed out that each 1 per cent pay rise costs the postal service alone £100,000 a year and that there was no ready means of securing savings without adversely affecting the quality of the service.
In the Budget speech on 22nd April last year the Taoiseach, speaking for the Minister for Finance, stated that no financial provision was being made for pay adjustments in the Post Office, and that, as this service was intended to pay its way, pay increases would have to be met by raising Post Office charges rather than by increasing taxation.
Here I should perhaps say a few words about the Post Office pay increases. Neither the Post Office nor the Civil Service is a pace-setter in wage settlements. Increases in pay or improvements in conditions are negotiated through the Civil Service conciliation and arbitration machinery on the basis of fair comparisons. In other words, increases in pay or improvements in conditions in the Civil Service are agreed to only after comparable increases and improvements have taken place outside.
The 12th round increases were not determined by the Post Office itself. They were settled in central pay negotiations covering the whole of the public service between the Minister for Finance and the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. There were two features of the 12th round, as of some earlier settlements, that affected the Post Office particularly. The first is that as Civil Service wage settlements usually lag behind those outside, compensation by way of retrospection has to be given. But Post Office practice has been not to increase charges until the cost of the pay increases is reasonably clear and it then takes some time to bring in higher charges.
For example in the present financial year the increased wages were backdated to 1st April for most employees, but the new postal charges could not be introduced until the 1st October and the revised telephone charges did not come into force until 1st November.
The second feature to which I should like to draw attention is that, as a matter of common policy, settlements in recent years have provided for minimum monetary increases which gave much higher percentage rises to lower paid workers than to others. The Post Office has many such workers and the increases in recent years are disproportionately costly as a result. The 12th round settlement in the Civil Service was expressed as one of 7 per cent from the 1st April last and 10 per cent from the 1st January, 1971. But because of the provision for high minimum monetary increases the actual percentage increases for most Post Office employees were substantially higher than the percentages nominally granted.
It has been argued that a revision of charges should have been postponed this year, or else that more modest increases should have been introduced, on the grounds that the Government had been urging price restraint and that the increases would be inflationary. The fact of the matter is that, in recent years, the Post Office has been slow to raise charges, and increases have been kept as low as possible. As I already said, the increases introduced from 1st January, 1969, were intended merely to keep the deficit on the postal service at a reasonable level.
When the effects of the 12th round and other increases in costs became clear, action could not be further deferred. Post Office expenditure must be met either by the users of the postal and telecommunications services or by the taxpayers. It is obviously more equitable that they should be met by the users because the public use the Post Office services in widely differing degree. The extra millions that would have to be provided for a Post Office subsidy if rates were not increased would mostly benefit the larger users, and the Minister for Finance would have so much less available for other purposes.
I am satisfied that no sizeable reduction in postal expenditure could be secured without drastic reduction of services and laying-off of staff, and that even such action would not have obviated the need for the recent increases in the short-term. At the same time, I am naturally very concerned at the scale of the postage increases which had to be made last October and at the prospect of still higher charges as pay rates rise. I have, therefore, set up a committee to consider the structure, operation and finances of the postal services, including counter services, and in particular to consider what changes are practicable and acceptable in the pattern or standards of postal services to enable them to be operated more efficiently or economically. Under its terms of reference, the committee can arrange, where necessary, for studies by economists or other experts in relation to these matters and for market research or other surveys to ascertain probable public attitudes to changes under consideration.
Since Monday, 15th February, 1971, the post office is in effect a decimal shop. The change to decimal currency was a much bigger undertaking for the Department than for other business because it was necessary to replace all £ s d stocks of postage stamps, postal orders, money orders, et cetera by decimal stocks of these items at all post offices during the weekend preceding D Day. To enable this to be done, counter business was suspended at all offices from 1 p.m. on Friday 12th until the normal opening hour on Monday, 15th February.
Post office charges are now in decimal currency. In general, conversion to decimal rates was arranged by adhering as closely as possible to the new halfpenny conversion table recommended by the Irish Decimal Currency Board. Exceptionally, in the case of ordinary telephone subscribers, where the call charges are used as a basis for calculating the amount due in the quarterly account, the charges were not rounded to a decimal coin but were fixed correct to two places of decimal of a new penny rounded down.
Many changes had, of course, exact decimal equivalents. No decimal charge was fixed at a higher level than was justified by the ½p conversion table. So far as the public are concerned, the two most important changes were that the basic inland letter rate became 4p—an increase of .6d—and that the charge for a local call from a kiosk or coinbox telephone became 2p—a reduction of 1.2d. Overall, the increases and losses in revenue due to decimalisation of charges are expected to balance out.
The introduction of decimal coinage has made it necessary to modify the mechanisms in the 24,500 telephone coin boxes which are in use at present. This work, which is being carried out as quickly as possible, could not commence until D Day because the bronze decimal coins were not generally available before then. It is hoped that, if all goes well, the work of conversion will be completed in about three months. Priority is being given to telephone kiosks and other heavily used public and rented coinbox telephones.
The change to decimal currency is such a big one for my Department that many problems and difficulties are bound to arise in connection with it, even though every possible care was taken, by planning ahead and by training staff, to minimise the difficulties likely to arise for the public on D Day and during the following weeks. I would, therefore, appeal to the public to make allowances for any inconveniences they may experience in the initial stages.
I shall try, as far as possible, to avoid repeating what I said in introducing the Second Stage of the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Bill, 1971 which we had a few weeks ago.
Radio Telefís Éireann's accounts for 1969-70 show an overall deficit of £21,383. In March last when speaking on the Estimate for 1969-70 my predecessor said that a formal application from the authority for increases in broadcasting licence fees was under consideration. Increases of £1 in the combined licence fee and 5s in the sound broadcasting fee were approved with effect from 1st July, 1970. As I have mentioned earlier, £400,000 has been provided in the second Supplementary Estimate to enable the revenue from the increased fees to be paid to the authority. The total sum of £2,535,000 covered by the Estimate and Supplementary Estimate represents an increase of £535,000 over the grant for last year. The number of current combined licences and those due for renewal at 31st December last totalled 452,000. The corresponding figure for sound only licences was 141,000.
On the basis that £1 5s Od out of the former £5 licence fee, and £1 10s Od of each £6 licence fee from 1st July last are intended for the sound broadcasting service, a sum of £793,000 is being provided in the current financial year for radio and £1,742,000 for television.
The authority is having difficulty owing to rising costs in making ends meet and has had to make certain changes in order to contain expenditure as far as possible. No reliable forecast can yet be made of the outcome for 1970-71, but I understand that it is probable that the authority's income will not be much more than sufficient to cover expenditure on current account.
This situation makes it important that evasion of payment of licences be reduced to a minimum. Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that licence evasion on a substantial scale still exists. The normal means of combating it have been supplemented by the use of a new television detection van of the most up-to-date type. I hope that its introduction will cause people who up to now have not paid their due share of the costs of the service to take out licences and so save themselves the trouble, expense and embarrassment of prosecution. It is hoped to introduce during the year a Bill providing for the compulsory registration of purchases and hirings of radio and television sets to facilitate the detection of licence fee evaders and providing also for heavier fines for possession of unlicensed sets.
On the capital side, RTE was authorised to spend up to £700,000 in 1969-70 but the authority had to cut back on planned works because of compelling current needs and capital expenditure amounted to £490,000.
In the present financial year the authority has been authorised to spend up to £700,000 on its programme of capital works. These works include the new radio building at Donnybrook and extensions of radio and television coverage by provision of VHF satellite transmitters at Moville and Cahirciveen and television transposers at Achill Island, Castlebar and Clifden. In addition, transposers will be in service this year at Fermoy and Glanmire. Modifications to a number of the existing transposers, including that at Suir Valley, Waterford are being made with a view to improving their coverage. Longer term plans provide for the improvement of reception in Cavan, Carlingford, Donegal and West Cork. Progress in extending coverage in areas of poor television reception depends of course on the availability of capital and, in relation to particular areas, the number of people who would benefit if a transmitter or transposer were provided.
As regards colour television, the position still is that no firm plans have been made for its introduction. Existing transmitters are readily adaptable for colour transmission and the authority has in fact been conducting experimental test transmissions using imported colour film material. Colour programmes are, however, very expensive to produce and the authority is not therefore in a position to put this development high on its priority list. There will be occasional home-originated colour transmissions using an outside broadcasting unit specially equipped for the purpose.
The Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Dublin in April will, I understand, be broadcast in this way. Those special arrangements will not, however, change the general position I have already outlined. Indeed, regular or studio transmissions in colour cannot be contemplated for several years ahead having regard to financial conditions. I think it desirable to emphasise this so that there may be no misunderstanding about the position, particularly on the part of persons contemplating the purchase of colour sets.
In March last it was decided to relax the restrictions on the provision of multi-channel communal aerial systems in what may be described as the multi-channel reception areas, that is the areas where external television programmes may be received "off the air" from the transmitting stations. The use of special technical means, such as microwave links, to extend the range of external programmes cannot however be authorised.
In November the decision of the Government to provide a Gaeltacht radio service as soon as possible was announced. A full broadcasting service embracing news coverage and a comprehensive schedule of features reflecting all aspects of the social, cultural and economic life of the Gaeltacht will be provided. Radio Telefís Éireann is preparing plans for the necessary capital works. The overall capital cost is estimated at over £250,000 and this will be borne by the Exchequer. The new service should attract a substantial listening audience among Irish speakers generally. I am hopeful that broadcasting will commence within a year.
A provision of £25,000 was made in this year's printed volume of Estimates—subhead K—for legal and other expenses in connection with the "Seven Days" Inquiry into the RTE television programme on illegal moneylending. The total paid to date is £29,390 including £3,715 paid in 1969-70. Liability has been accepted for other items totalling over £3,000. Claims totalling about £11,500 received from some of the other parties who were represented by counsel at the inquiry are under consideration at present. As already stated £10,000 extra is being provided in the second Supplementary Estimate for this subhead.
The tribunal appointed by the Taoiseach to undertake the inquiry submitted their report in August last. It is clear from the report that the tribunal carried out their onerous task with painstaking care, thoroughness and objectivity. I should like to express our thanks to the members, particularly for their lucid analysis of the matters on which they were asked to report. The tribunal stated that they were satisfied that in deciding to make the programme Radio Telefís Éireann were activated by a desire to draw public attention to what they genuinely considered to be a serious social problem and that this decision was justified. Nevertheless, the report contains severe criticism of Radio Telefís Éireann; particularly in regard to failures, in various stages from the planning to the presentation of the broadcast, to take proper care to give an authentic and objective picture. The tribunal found that, in presenting a picture of laxity on the part of the gardaí, the programme was not authentic and the team concerned had no evidence which would warrant the making of any such criticism.
I communicated with the authority on receipt of the report. I am more concerned with the future than the past and in this regard I can say, without going into any detail as to what has passed between the authority and myself, that I am confident the authority has taken or will take any action required arising out of the tribunal's findings.
I hope that the "7 Days" affair will be allowed to be disposed of on that basis without the heat which the matter generated for some time after it was raised. The months which have elapsed have certainly helped in this regard.
One aspect of the "7 Days" programme in question which disturbed many people was the use of concealed devices to record conversations and to film scenes involving certain persons without their knowledge. This aspect was referred to in paragraph 68 of the tribunal's report but the tribunal decided not to make any recommendation on it. They remarked that the problem involved was one of great complexity and importance and that it might ultimately be the subject of international convention and possibly of legislation.
I raised the question of the use of the devices mentioned with the authority and was informed that an instruction to the staff on the subject had been in preparation before the broadcast and was issued shortly afterwards. The instruction prohibits the use of such hidden devices for broadcasting purposes save in the most exceptional circumstances and then only under the most stringent control.
The use of sophisticated modern technical devices in ways which constitute an invasion of privacy is at present engaging the attention of specialised bodies under the auspices of the United Nations and of the Council of Europe. It seems probable that recommendations will be made to Governments in due course for the control of the use of these devices.
Dr. C.S. Andrews, who had been a member and chairman of the authority from 3rd June, 1966, tendered his resignation in May, 1970, which was accepted with regret. I should like to express appreciation of the valuable service rendered by Dr. Andrews to Irish broadcasting during his period as chairman. He has been succeeded by Mr. Dónall Ó Móráin, a member of the authority since June, 1966. I am sure we all wish Mr. Ó Móráin every success in his new role.
The fact that the RTE Authority came in for more criticism than praise in the findings of the "7 Days" Tribunal should be viewed in its proper perspective as relating to a single programme. Although various programmes have come in for criticism from time to time—and it is a healthy sign that they should—I am glad to pay tribute to the success which has attended the efforts of the authority to maintain high standards of broadcasting and to effect improvements within the limits of the resources available to them.
