asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether he has received representations regarding the necessity for the erection of a public telephone kiosk at Leixlip where, owing to the absence of public telephone facilities at night, local persons are unable to make urgent telephone calls; and if he will state when it is proposed to erect a kiosk there.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Leixlip Telephone Facilities.
Representations have been received for the provision of a telephone kiosk at Leixlip. It is the intention to provide the facility in due course, but there are many larger and more important places throughout the country which will have to be provided with kiosks before Leixlip can be given the service.
Such as the Dublin Cattle Market.
Is the Minister aware that there are only three private telephones in Leixlip—two in shops which must necessarily close early and the third in a private house; that there is no Gárda Barracks in Leixlip which would normally provide telephone facilities in emergency circumstances; and that the local dispensary medical officer resides not in Leixlip but in Maynooth, four miles away? Bearing in mind the fact that persons in needy circumstances may require to get into telephonic contact with the dispensary medical officer late at night, will he recognise the necessity of providing a telephone service to enable them to do so, because at present the only facility they have is that made available by being able to utilise the service of a telephone in a private house? Will he bear these facts in mind, and, realising that the installation of a telephone kiosk is not a monumental work, have it provided as soon as possible?
The Deputy must be aware that we are restricted by shortage of materials and that there are a great many places much larger than Leixlip which are crying out for kiosks which must be dealt with first. There are 29 subscribers in Leixlip——
In the area.
Yes.
That is quite a large area.
Leixlip is fortunate in having a continuous service——
And no telephones.
——and on the rare occasions on which it would be necessary to make an urgent telephone call at night, there should be no real difficulty in obtaining access to a private telephone.
I wish the people who wrote that reply for the Minister would go down to Leixlip and try to make a telephone call at about 12 o'clock at night.
The Deputy does not live in Leixlip either.
The Deputy knows more about it than the Minister and his advisers.
Nobody knows more than I do about Leixlip.