asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will change the telephone at The Downs post office, County Westmeath from inside the office to a kiosk outside.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Westmeath Telephone Site.
150.
The call office telephone at The Downs post office is little used and the provision of a street kiosk there is not contemplated at present.
Let me put it to the Minister that in a rural area where a post office closes down, and where the demands very often come outside office hours, whether it is little used or not, it is ridiculous to have the telephone inside where it is inaccessible to the local people for emergency calls to the doctor, priest or vet. I suggest to the Minister that if it were outside he might find that the revenue from that call office might vastly increase.
Did I hear the Deputy right? Did he say that The Downs post office has closed down?
It closes down in the evenings.
I beg your pardon. If that is so, the Deputy is aware that the telephone is available in all emergencies.
Surely the Minister must have regard to the realities of the situation.
Of course I have, and the Deputy must have regard to the amount of money at my disposal for the provision of kiosks in rural areas.
Yes, but if I suggest to the Minister that the provision of a kiosk will generate money, surely he will accept that as reasonable.
Could not the county council provide a kiosk?
If the county council want to take up with my Department the possibility of their subsidising a telephone kiosk in this area, I will be more than happy to deal with that. I am quite satisfied that a telephone kiosk in the place mentioned by Deputy Cooney would by no means be an economic proposition.
Can the Minister tell me what is the revenue from the existing call office?
I can tell the Deputy to satisfy his curiosity, because normally he is a very reasonable man.
The implication is that I am not being reasonable now.
Normally he is reasonable. Since April, 1971, there has been a decrease in the number of calls made from the public call office telephone at The Downs from about 25 calls a week to less than 20 calls a week. If the people of The Downs want to get a telephone kiosk for themselves outside the post office I would suggest that they use the telephone——
The Minister——
Am I not to be allowed to give the Deputy the information he is looking for? I suggest that they should use the telephone in the call office and if I am satisfied that it will be a paying proposition to erect a telephone kiosk outside The Downs post office, I will do so.
Will the Minister not accept it as a matter of common sense that if it is available all day more use will be made of it?