asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the total cost of having telephone kiosks repaired in Dublin city and county during the last 12 months.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
1.
Figures are not kept for repairs as distinct from total maintenance costs. The total cost of maintaining the kiosks in Dublin city and county is estimated at £225,000 for the 12 months ended June 30th, 1976.
2.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applicants still awaiting telephones in Orwell estate, Mountdown estate, Willington estate and Templeogue House estate, Dublin; and when telephones will be provided for these applicants.
Approximately 480. It is expected that service will be provided for about 300 of these during the next three months or so and for the balance progressively during 1977.
3.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of telephones provided in Orwell estate, Mountdown estate, Templeogue House estate and Willington estate, Dublin this year.
About 425.
4.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware of the unsatisfactory telephone service available to a firm (name supplied) in County Kerry and the unsatisfactory service from Germany to Ireland in particular in so far as this firm is concerned; the steps his Department intend to take to rectify the matter; and if he will make a statement on the position in general.
I am aware that complaints have been received from the firm in question. An obscure equipment fault in the Dublin trunk exchange which would have caused difficulty on some incoming international calls, has been located and cleared following extensive engineering tests. The firm's telephone service will be kept under special review.
5.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will provide a telephone kiosk outside the new post office premises on Inishbofin, County Galway.
The use made of the call office telephone in the post office is not sufficient to warrant provision of a kiosk on Inishbofin.
Will the Minister not agree that Inishbofin would be a very special case and one in which the normal standards laid down by the Department for the provision of a telephone kiosk could be waived?
I am afraid I cannot agree with the Deputy. There are, of course, a number of areas in the country which could make a special claim. Some system of priorities has to be observed. In the case of Inishbofin a call office telephone in the post office is available to the public from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at all times in emergencies. There are on average only two to three calls a day and creditable revenue for the 12 months ended 31st December last was £39.60. A kiosk could, of course, be provided in Inishbofin under a guarantee by the local authority against the loss, if any, involved in its provision and maintenance and I would suggest to any Deputies interested that that course is open.
The Minister has some literary accomplishments and, in his reply, he used the phrase "There are, of course, a number of areas in the country". May I put it to him that Inishbofin is strictly not in the country and perhaps the time might be ripe now to revise this scheme of priorities and give special consideration to offshore islands, a very important part of our national heritage?
I used the term "country" as used in the Constitution to include the islands and the territorial seas and I hope the Deputy is not claiming the right for any island to secede.
Would the Minister accept that in the case of an island such as Inisbofin, where there is a small population, one could hardly apply the criteria which applies to the mainland in relation to the cost or the amount of use made of the telephone and, going on these lines, would he have another look at this particular case?
As I have said, the remedy is at hand if the local authority are sufficiently interested.