asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state the number of applicants awaiting the provision of telephone service on the last convenient date, and the approximate average period for which they (a) have been waiting on that date, and (b) will still have to wait for such service.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Applicants for Telephone Services.
The number of applicants awaiting telephone service on the 31st January, 1958, was 3,242, of whom 1,348 are currently being provided with telephones. The remaining 1,894 applicants have been waiting about eight months on average and will have to wait an estimated 12 months more, on average, before being provided with service.
In considering average figures of this kind, it needs to be borne in mind that the connection of subscribers, including "removals," to the telephone system is currently running at a rate in excess of 700 a month and that it is only a proportion of applications that suffer delay.
Would the Minister give a convenient breakdown of those figures as between Dublin and the rest of the country, or between automatic exchanges and the rest of the country?
I have not got that.