asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs why applicants for telephones must pay seven years rent in advance before connection.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
4.
(Dublin South-Central): A small proportion of new subscribers are required to pay seven years rent in advance because of the high cost involved in giving them service.
Will the Minister give a guarantee to those subscribers that the rental will not be increased in the next seven years?
(Dublin South-Central): I could not give any guarantee to any subscriber that it will not be in-creased in the next number of years.
When was this new rule introduced?
(Dublin South-Central): This rule has been there for a long number of years.
Could the Minister give the exact date?
(Dublin South-Central): I have not got the exact date.
The Minister is chancing his arm.
(Dublin South-Central): This is an established rule go-ing back over a long period.
Does the Minister accept that this is a further bias against applicants in rural areas seeking the installation of telephones?
(Dublin South-Central): The same regulation applies in urban areas.
How does the Minister assess a high cost area if it does not relate to a rural area?
(Dublin South-Central): The cost involved in installation first and the distance from the local exchange.
That would apply in a rural area only, and not in a town or a city. How could there be a considerable distance in a town where the line would be passing outside the door, as opposed to a rural area?
(Dublin South-Central): It is from the exchange, not the line passing outside the door.
As the head of the Government would the Taoiseach not accept that there is no justification for demanding seven years rent in advance from applicants for a telephone service? Is the Minister aware that many applicants could not find that type of money to pay seven years rent in advance having regard to the present level of the rental? I am addressing my remarks more to the Taoiseach than to the Minister. Is it not completely unfair to ask applicants for the telephone service to pay seven years rent in advance? I have had letters from several people who could not find that type of money.
Question No. 5.
The Minister mentioned a small proportion of new subscribers. Could he tell us what proportion of new subscribers have to pay this?
(Dublin South-Central): One per cent.
Does that figure include any old age pensioners?
(Dublin South-Central): I have not got that information available.
5.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of telephones at present out of order and awaiting repair; and the steps he proposes to take to expedite these repairs.
(Dublin South-Central): The number of telephones awaiting repair at a recent date was about 2,700 which is average for this time of the year. Most faults are cleared within two days of being reported, the main exceptions being faults in un-derground cables which take somewhat longer to trace and rectify. It may be expected that abnormal delays in clearing faults in underground cables generally will be reduced according as the system is improved.
6.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applications for telephones at present with his Department; and the estimated period of time it will take to supply these applicants.
(Dublin South-Central): Sixty thousand at the end of September last. It is expected that the bulk of these will be met within two years.
7.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the average weekly time in the Dublin area for phone installation from application to installa-tion.
(Dublin South-Central): I regret that the information is not readily available in the precise form sought by the Deputy. However, a ran-dom sampling of installations made in 1977 in the 01 area showed that 41 per cent of the installations in the sample were made within 3 months of the date of application, 65 per cent within six months, and 81 per cent within 12 months; the remaining 19 per cent were in respect of applications outstanding for varying periods in excess of 12 months.
We are somewhat wiser now than we were before the Minister answered. Is the Minister aware that a number of applicants have been waiting for service more than three years now? How does this situation obtain? Several are waiting more than two years and a sizeable number are waiting more than three years. How did that happen?
(Dublin South-Central): The Deputy is referring to a small proportion. I am talking about an average sample.
But one applicant adjacent to the town of Kinsale, which is not a remote area, has been waiting three years and eight months and he still cannot get a service. How does that hap-pen?
(Dublin South-Central): There may be various problems involved with regard to cabling in that district which I am not aware of.
Arising from the Minister's reply, would he give separate figures for commercial applications and individual applications?
(Dublin South-Central): I cannot answer that question.
Would the Minister accept that in relation to personal applications it takes a great deal in excess of two years on average for a telephone to be installed in the 01 area?
(Dublin South-Central): That is not proved by the figures which I have.
Would the Minister tell the House then what is the figure?
(Dublin South-Central): It is only a percentage of those installed.
Would the Minister give us the figures relating to personal ap-plications as distinct from business applications?
(Interruptions.)
Would the Minister give us the average waiting time in a rural area?
(Dublin South-Central): I have not got that information but, as I have stated, 41 per cent of ap-plications are dealt with within three months. This is the national average.
Would the Minister concede that the average waiting time in a rural area is around three years?
(Dublin South-Central): I do not accept that.
Could the Minister give us an assessment——
(Interruptions.)
Order, please.
Would the Minister agree that it is an extraordinary indict-ment of the managerial efficiency of the Department that all he can rely on here in relation to this elementary question on the level of efficiency in the Post Office is that it is a random sample? Surely we should have an exact idea on a year to year basis of the waiting period, rural or urban.
(Dublin South-Central): We have.
This is an argument. We will move on to the next question.
(Dublin South-Central): The large waiting list is a result of the upsurge in the economy. The number of applications has increased considerably.
There will be no taxes to pay, so.