asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone, for which payment for connection was made some time ago, will be installed at a residence (name supplied) in Main Street, Athboy, County Meath.
49.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
48.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone for which payment for connection was made some time ago, will be installed for a person (name supplied) at Fairgreen, Athboy, County Meath.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 48 and 49 together. Telephone service was provided for both the applicants concerned on 11th May.
50.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in view of the urgent necessity for public telephones in rural areas and in particular in County Clare, the action he intends taking in the matter.
The programme for the current financial year provides for 200 new kiosks in rural areas, including nine in County Clare.
51.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will provide a suitable night telephone service at Birdhill, County Tipperary for any emergency that may arise on this most heavily used road to Limerick City.
Subject to clearance of any site or wayleave difficulties it is proposed to provide a telephone kiosk with 24-hour service in replacement of the call office telephone at Birdhill sub-post office in the current year.
52.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will provide a telephone kiosk at Saint Conlan's Road, Nenagh, County Tipperary.
Saint Conlan's Road is served by a telephone kiosk at Ashe Road which will shortly be replaced by two kiosks in the new post office nearing completion there. Provision of a kiosk at Saint Conlan's Road is not considered to be warranted at present but the matter will be reconsidered in the light of planned housing development in the area generally.
53.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applicants waiting for telephones to be installed in (a) the Kimmage/Crumlin area (b) the Terenure area and (c) the Rathmines area, Dublin; and when these outstanding applications will be dealt with.
The figures requested are (a) 350, (b) 450 and (c) 600. It is hoped to attend to the bulk of the applications in question within the next 12 months.
54.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when the new telephone exchange at Rathmines. Dublin, is expected to go into service.
The new exchange will, on the basis of latest information from the contractor concerned, be opened for service in September or October next.
55.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when it is proposed to convert to automatic working the Mitchelstown and Fermoy telephone exchanges, County Cork.
It is expected that the existing automatic unit at Mitchelstown will be replaced by a new automatic exchange and that Fermoy manual exchange will be converted to automatic working by the middle of next year.
56.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applications for new telephone installations at present with his Department; and the approximate number of applicants who will receive telephones before the end of 1973.
The figures requested are about 33,000 and 20,000 respectively. I am very concerned at the size of the waiting list, the length of the delay and the way in which the waiting list has expanded over the past few years. Let me give figures of the waiting list for telephones over the past two years. In 1970 it was, 14,601: by 1971 it had become 20,653 and by 1972, 30,899. I am most anxious that all possible steps should now be taken to reverse this trend which has prevailed over the past few years and I hope to deal with this matter at greater length in my reply to the debate on the Estimate for my Department.
Would the Minister give the parallel figures for the same years for the number of installations of new telephones?
If the Deputy will put down a question, yes. I do not think I have the information here.
I should have thought that if the Minister thought this information was worth giving to the House he might have considered the other figures worth giving also.
(Interruptions.)
The Deputy asked the question——
(Interruptions.)
Order, order.
I am sorry to have made Deputy Colley so cross and I think he should be a little cooler about this question. If he wants to put down a question about this subject I should be very happy to answer his question.
If the Minister had any shred of honesty he would have given these figures for installations.
(Interruptions.)
I am here to answer questions put by Deputies, not questions that they might have thought of.
Would the Minister indicate which question he was replying to when he gave that answer?
Ceist 57.
On a point of order——
Question No. 57 has been called.