asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if it is proposed to provide local post offices to replace those recently closed at Upper Leeson Street and Morehampton Road, Dublin; and, if so, the opening dates.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Post Office Services.
14.
Yes. The new office at Upper Leeson Street will, it is expected, be opened this month. The vacancy at Morehampton Road was advertised and it is hoped to make an appointment shortly.
When will the office at Morehampton Road be opened?
I do not have the exact date at the moment, but I will communicate with the Deputy. There is an applicant under consideration at the moment. It is not always possible to say definitely but I will keep in touch with the Deputy.
I hope the Minister will communicate with the other Deputies in the area also.
15.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if, in view of the exceptional circumstances, he will now provide a sub post office and kiosk at Lismire, Newmarket, County Cork.
The position remains as stated in the reply which I gave on 28th March, 1974, to a previous similar question from the Deputy. I am not aware of any recent material change in local circumstances.
16.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will consider the provision of a sub-post office in the Springfield area, Tallaght, County Dublin.
The sub-post office at Tallaght is considered to cater reasonably for the needs of the Springfield area at present. The area generally is still in course of development, however, and the need for additional facilities will be kept under review.
Would the Minister not agree that the people of Springfield have to travel a very great distance to the sub-post office at Tallaght? If a sub-post office could be provided in Springfield it would be a great benefit to them. Despite the fact that a new premises has been opened in Tallaght, would he not agree that facilities there are not good?
It is my understanding that the new accommodation in Tallaght which was opened on the 9th December, 1974, has adequate space for the public. It is considered by my Department that the office provides adequately for the needs of the Tallaght area generally. I appreciate that this is an expanding area and the situation will be kept under review. I will keep in touch with the Deputy.
17.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will provide immediately post office services, even of a temporary nature, to the people of Tolka Valley/South Finglas, Dublin.
I have considered the additional development in the area mentioned since I replied on the 16th May last to a previous question by the Deputy on this subject. The existing sub-post offices, at Finglas and Cappagh, are still considered to cater reasonably for current needs. The necessity for additional facilities will, however, be kept under review as development progresses.
Would the Minister accept that the existing post offices at Cappagh and Finglas are further away from the people in the Tolka Valley than Leeson Street is from Morehampton Road? Having regard to the fact that 10,000 people have gone to live in that valley, does he not consider that they should have this service?
I agree of course. The Deputy is well aware that in the Metropolitan area distances between post offices vary widely. However, the majority of the occupied houses are within a radial distance of three-quarters of a mile from an existing sub-post office. The three surrounding offices are regarded as catering adequately for the needs of the area at its present stage of development. We do not, of course, rule out provision of a sub-office to cater for the general area in the future.
I am sorry if I appear to be pressing the Minister on this, but would he accept that all the people who have been drafted into that area are paying for postal services, the same as anybody else in the State and it is not correct that these services should be denied to them? Will he also accept that 99 per cent of the families there have four or five children? It is all right to talk about a radial mile. A radial mile can mean an amount of hardship to a lady who is walking a mile and a half with two or three children hanging out of her.
I appreciate the Deputy's proper concern for his constituents. I will keep the situation under review. Unfortunately it is not possible to ensure—though everybody pays the same, as the Deputy says, in terms of postal charges—that, for example, residents in a thickly populated old urban area do not for a time get better services than inhabitants of a newly populated area or of a thinly populated rural area. Any Government would try to spread the benefit as well as they could but you cannot ensure immediate identity of service. My understanding is that the number of occupied houses in the area went up since May last, which was the date of the Deputy's previous question, to the present figure of about 1,000 occupied houses, but that building progress there seems to have slowed down considerably.
It is the same everywhere.
Tell your colleague about that.
May I appeal to the Minister's big socialist heart to take some premises in the valley for temporary facilities for those people?
We must pass on to the next question. I cannot remain unduly long on this.
I am sure it is a matter on which, if the Minister applied himself to it in the same way as he applies himself to other matters, he would get an early solution. Would he please do that?
I assure the Deputy that I will keep the matter under review.