asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if a practice of double charging operates in Clonmel town and district, County Tipperary, for operator-assisted calls; and if so the reasons for this practice; how long it has been in operation; if it obtains generally throughout the county and if he will suspend it for the duration of the present industrial dispute.
Written Answers. - Clonmel Telephone Charges.
490.
Operator assisted calls handled in Clonmel in common with other exchanges in the country are charged for at the ordinary rate. Where there are delays on calls over a particular route—as have occurred on occasions in recent weeks—and a caller requests preferential treatment for his call over those already in the queue, he is offered urgent call facilities at double the normal fee in accordance with long-standing international practice. My Department are not interested in the special charge from the revenue aspect and would gladly drop it if there was any other suitable and effective means of affording priority on a fair basis.