asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when the telephone exchange at Swinford, County Mayo will become automatic and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
21.
About mid 1982.
It had been hoped to effect the conversion sooner but a setback occurred through a necessity to revise plans for the building.
Question No. 22 is for written reply.
23.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when the telephone exchange at Ballyhaunis, County Mayo will become automatic and if he will make a statement on the matter.
24.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if his attention has been drawn to the dissatisfaction of people in Ballyhaunis area of County Mayo that the local exchange is not included in the 094 automatic zone, if he will amend the present plans for automation of this exchange and have this omission rectified as this is the only exchange in south Mayo to be so excluded and when automatic service will be provided in the area.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together.
It is expected that Ballyhaunis telephone exchange will become automatic in the latter half of 1982. Under automatic conditions Castlerea will be the switching centre for Ballyhaunis and must, therefore, be converted first. The forecast given is based on the estimated time required to complete the new exchange building at Castlerea and to instal the automatic equipment at Castlerea and Ballyhaunis.
I am aware of the anxiety to have Ballyhaunis made automatic and it is one of the main objectives of my Department that all remaining manual exchanges be converted as rapidly as is possible. However, as the layout of the trunk network and the planning of the automatic trunk switching system generally has been developed on the basis of Ballyhaunis being switched at Castlerea it would not be practicable at this late stage to transfer Ballyhaunis to the 094 Claremorris-Castlebar existing automatic system.
Question No. 25 is for written reply.
26.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if his attention has been drawn to the situation at the Donegal Posts and Telegraphs supply office where there are no manual telephones in stock and if he will make a statement on the matter.
There was a temporary shortage of magneto telephones in Donegal recently but this is now being corrected.
There are plenty of hand operated telephones?
Yes, any number.
27.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he has received a complaint from a weaving company (details supplied) in County Donegal regarding the future employment of 80 workers which is threatened due to the unsatisfactory telex and telephone service in County Donegal and the steps he proposes to take to remedy the situation.
28.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if his attention has been drawn to the unsatisfactory telex and telephone service to a company (details supplied) in County Donegal and the steps he intends to take to improve this situation.
I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle to take Questions Nos. 27 and 28 together.
A complaint was received from the firm concerned recently relating to the service in the period late March/early April. Telex service to the company was interrupted on a number of occasions during that period when the insulation of the cable was damaged while underground cable between Letterkenny and Milford was being laid. Every effort was made to restore service as quickly as possible for the subscriber when these breakdowns occurred. Telephone service was also affected to some extent on these occasions. Both services have been satisfactory since.
Is the Minister satisfied that this was an isolated case?
Yes, this particular one certainly was because in the laying of the cable in the duct a certain amount of damage was caused
Is that the truth or is that what the Minister wants to believe to be the truth?
I am telling the Deputy the truth and if he does not want to believe it, that is not my fault.
That there are no telex difficulties in Donegal except the one to which Deputy White and I referred?
Not that I am aware of, but as regards the specific question the Deputy asked specifically, the reply is the absolute truth. That is commonly known.
I understand that on some days the telex was half operating; on other days it was not operating at all. If the line was cut surely it would not operate at all?
It was damaged. The technicians are trying to remedy this situation to the best of their ability. That has now been completed.
And it is definitely working 100 per cent now?
It is, yes, subject to nothing else happening.
It should be recorded that there is no reflection on the technicians concerned. I do not know how they are working. The system is about to collapse as the Minister well knows. This is not an isolated case. It did not happen on the one occasion but is occurring every other week.
That is the contention.
There are 80 families involved.
I had a very able reply to question No. 25 which was withdrawn——
It was not withdrawn; it is for written reply. That is my privilege.
I know it is.
29.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the steps being taken to improve the very poor telephone service in the Tuam 093 area and Ballinasloe 0905 area of County Galway.
the main requirements to improve the quality of service to existing subscribers is to provide new telephone exchanges at both centres. In addition, extra trunk circuits need to be provided between Tuam and Galway.
New exchanges are being provided in both towns and these should be in service next year. A new microwave link which will provide the necessary extra trunk circuits between Tuam and Galway is on order and is also expected to be ready for service later this year.
Pending these developments maintenance is being given the closest possible attention to ensure the best possible standard of service to subscribers from the existing equipment.
The Minister must be aware, as a subscriber in the 093 area, that the telephone service in that area is possibly the worst in the country—perhaps Donegal is worse. Is the Minister aware that in the Ballinasloe 0905 area the service is as bad as it is in the Tuam area? I accept that it may be a case of "live horse and you will get grass" and if we wait long enough possibly we will get a good telephone service. The Minister in his reply says that all steps are being taken to provide the best possible service. If the service available at the moment is the best possible from the Department, it is a terrible service. What is the Minister doing about it?
I have answered all those questions. I may add that in the interim period we have installed a new 1,000 line mobile exchange in Tuam to help alleviate this problem. I agree with Deputy Donnellan that heretofore it was possibly the worst telephone service in the country. It has been rated as number one priority in the Department and I am implementing a policy to eliminate complaints.
Is the Minister aware that it is now the worst in the country?
No.
There is no question about it.
(Interruptions.)
May I say this?
The Deputy may ask a question but not make a statement.
Are the Minister of State and the Minister aware—the two of them are here——
They are the only two here.
——that my personal telephone had to be reported to the Department? They came out last week to fix it and it has gone bonky again. Can the Minister do anything about it? Am I not entitled to a telephone service?
Certainly, and I will see to it immediately.
And all my constituents also. Please give me a service—that is all I want, even a bad service.
I hope the Deputy will be there to answer the telephone when it rings.
30.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone service will be provided for Old Bawn community school, Tallaght, County Dublin.
Subject to the necessary development work being completed by the parties involved in the building of the school, it is expected that telephone service will be provided by September 1981, the date scheduled for the opening of the school.
31.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone service will be provided for the new health centre at St. Dominic's Road, Tallaght, County Dublin.
Arrangements for the provision of service by the end of this month are already in train.
32.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when service will be provided to the new telephone kiosk at Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, County Dublin.
Service was provided on 6 May, 1980.
33.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the total number of applicants awaiting telephone service in the Youghal (024) area of Counties Cork and Waterford, and the average waiting time for a telephone service in this area at present.
The total number is 440 and the average waiting time to date is 24 months.
Is the Minister aware that he told me two months ago in this House that there were only ten people on the waiting list? How many are there today?
The total number is 440.
What proposals has the Minister got to alleviate the problem?
Severe register congestion at Youghal exchange which switches calls for the other five exchanges in the group has necessitated the barring of extra connections in the group for some time past. This is reflected in the longer average waiting times in the area at present. A new mobile automatic exchange is expected to be in service within the next two months. This will help to alleviate the problem.
What is the average waiting time in that exchange area at the moment?
24 months.
34.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will make a statement outlining details of the proposed new tele-communications centre at Midleton, County Cork, and the time table for completion involved.
At present telecommunications circuits carrying traffic between this country and distant countries are routed through the British Post Office system via the Goonhilly telecommunications earth station in Cornwall and/or submarine cable systems which terminate in Britain. My Department have investment shares in the Goonhilly station and in certain submarine cables. The position will be reached within the next few years that it will be more economic for the Department to have their own telecommunications earth station to meet the increasing need for satellite circuits to distant countries, particularly the United States, than to continue the present arrangements.
A site of about 60 acres has, therefore, been bought for a telecommunications satellite earth station complex at Midleton, County Cork. Planning of the station to provide the necessary satellite circuits to meet telecommunications traffic needs is in hand. It is expected that the station will be in service within five years. It will enable direct communication to be established between this country and many others without relying on transit facilities provided by intermediate countries.
The site acquired will also be adequate to enable additional earth station facilities to be provided later to meet expected international satellite requirements to Europe and elsewhere.
How does the Minister define the word "few" as given in his answer? I think he mentioned a few years time.
Within five years.
What is the estimated cost of the centre which is envisaged at Midleton?
Approximately £5 million.
What does the Department envisage for the Goonhilly telecommunications earth station?
I have not got with me the specific investment in it, but the break-even point of our financial involvement in Goonhilly will be reached in the mid-eighties. For this reason it is more economic for the Department, on a recent analysis, to think in terms of an earth satellite station.
What improvements will this bring about?
It will mean that we will no longer be depending on the British Post Office and other areas for direct communications to the United States and South America. After that we will be able to develop our own independent communications through the use of the earth station at Midleton in County Cork.
35.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the reason for the continuing unsatisfactory telephone services in rural areas and when it is hoped to improve this situation.
The reasons for the shortcomings of the telephone service in both country and urban areas are set out comprehensively in the report of the Posts and Telegraphs Review Group published last year. These were identified by the group as being primarily underinvestment in the service and an unsuitable organisational structure.
The Deputy will be aware that the Government have since approved an accelerated telephone development programme estimated to cost £650 million at 1979 prices. The general objective of the programme is to provide a high quality telephone service as quickly as practicable throughout the country. The review group recognised that the extensive improvements required will take several years to bring about. Some significant improvements will, I expect, begin to become evident from the end of this year onwards according as major development schemes at present in progress or planned are completed.
Invariably when we complain about poor telephone services, the answer we get from the Department is that there is a lack of stores, which seem to be a basic commodity. What is being done about that shortage?
There were staff relations difficulties in stores around Christmas. In the past month the stores and equipment issued to the different centres were worth approximately £2.6 million.
36.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone service will be provided for a business (details supplied) in County Galway.
Service will be provided in about four months.
37.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the reason the telephone service to a person (details supplied) in County Waterford was disconnected for non-payment of a telephone account when, apparently, this account was never submitted.
The October-December 1979 telephone account for this subscriber was issued on 11 February 1980 and a reminder notice requesting payment within seven days was sent to him on 6 March 1980. As the account was not paid service was withdrawn on 23 April.
The subscriber in question maintains that he did not get a bill. I should like the Minister to get an inspector from his department to call and discuss the matter further.
It is quite odd that this subscriber has stated that he did not get the account on two occasions. It is quite odd that he was the only person in that area who did not get it. On receipt of payment of that account service was restored to him on 29 April, the day after payment was made at Kilmacthomas post office.
I am aware of that. Will the Minister investigate the matter?
We have investigated it.
38.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if his attention has been drawn to the loss of business, particularly in exports, to firms in County Donegal due to the unsatisfactory telex service to areas of that county.
Telex service to County Donegal is, in general, satisfactory. There were, however, difficulties with the telex service in the northern part of the county on a number of occasions over a period of a few weeks in March-April last when the insulation of a cable was damaged while underground cable was being laid between Letterkenny and Milford. Every effort was made to restore service as quickly as possible for the subscribers concerned when these breakdowns occurred. I am aware that these breakdowns did cause problems for telex subscribers affected.
Would the Minister take a look at the service to the rest of the county? In view of what the Minister has stated the investigation which has been carried out does not show a factual expose of the situation. Would he reinvestigate it to find out how bad the service really is? Would the Minister tell the House whether the overall telephone, telex and the cable link between Donegal and Dublin via Sligo are out of order day in and day out, week in and week out? Any time it rains heavily they are sure to be out of order. This has been going on for years. Will the Minister do something about this because despite Deputy Donnellan's claim that Galway has the worst service we make that claim.
We will not argue about that. In reply to the Deputy's question about having a thorough investigation carried out I will see to that. There are 48 applicants waiting for a telex service in all of County Donegal, Instructions have been issued to provide a service to six of these and offers of the service have been made to a further five. A major trunking scheme for the telex service in Donegal is at present in hand and is expected to be completed later this year. This scheme will increase the capacity of the Donegal telex network by over 140 channels. It is expected to bring into service later this year a new radio link to Sligo to supplement the existing coaxial trunk cable. Provision for the new radio link should result in an improvement of the quality of telex service provided generally in County Donegal.
I thank the Minister for all that information. In regard to the coaxial cable via Sligo to Donegal, is there not something radically wrong with it?
The Deputy is aware of the new central exchange in Sligo itself.
It has nothing to do with central exchanges. Is the Minister aware from the persistent breakdowns on the line that supplementing it by any radio link or anything else is not the answer? The cable is defective and has been defective almost since the day it was installed 23 years ago.
I recognise the Deputy's point. The coaxial cable has not been very successful. However, the micro link will be an alternative.
I notice that communication between the Minister and the Minister for State is much better on the micro-link information than is the case in respect of trying to get a telephone number in County Donegal.
The Deputy got the answer by way of written reply.
The Minister has got the number right at last.
The Minister agrees that it is disgraceful——
I have not said that.
——that some of these business firms applied more than two years ago for telex and that there are not yet any plans to connect them within the next 12 months. There are no railways, no roads and now no telex.
Within two months we will be offering 140 extra channels to County Donegal while the number of applications is only 48.
(Interruptions.)
I should like to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of Question No. 191 on the Order Paper.
The Chair will communicate with the Deputy. The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.