asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs why it is not possible to make a telephone call to Monrovia in Liberia.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service to Liberia.
151.
My Department are currently engaged in negotiations to introduce telephone service to a number of countries, including Liberia, with which service is not available at present.
Can the Minister state why the Dublin exchange on 7th November accepted a booking for a phone call to Monrovia? The person who booked the call waited but it was 36 hours later before the caller was informed by the London exchange that only calls from United Kingdom numbers could be connected.
It is quite possible that the operator who booked the call was not familiar with the situation.
That is not correct. The operator admitted that she did not know the position. She put the caller on to the supervisor in Dublin, who took the call for 12 hours later, and promised to book it.
It is possible then that the supervisor, like the operator, was not familiar with the situation.
Therefore, would it be necessary for the supervisor to have contacted the Minister at Newcastle-West, County Limerick, in order to ascertain whether is was possible to get this call?
If that person came to Newcastle West he would not have been able to find me because I do not live there.
Does the Minister think that someone in the exchange should have been able to tell the caller that it was not possible to get the call, without the caller having to wait for 36 hours before being told it was not possible to make the call?
I should imagine someone should have been able to tell the person and I am sorry that the person was inconvenienced.