asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a dial line will be installed in Drangan Post Office, County Tipperary.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
12.
It is assumed that the facility sought by the Deputy is one which would enable the Drangan operator to dial direct, using Drangan-Clonmel trunks, to automatic numbers in the Clonmel charge group and to some manual exchanges in the Clonmel area without intervention of the Clonmel operator as is necessary at present.
I am advised that provision—in advance of the conversion of Drangan to automatic working—of the dialling facility sought would require the design and installation of special non-standard equipment. This would be necessary for technical reasons because of the length of the trunk lines between Drangan and Clonmel. Accordingly, it is not proposed to provide the dialling facility at this stage.
13.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state (a) the number of applicants awaiting telephones in County Wexford at present (b) the number of applications on hands during the last two years (c) the number of applications on hands during the last 12 months and (d) the proposals he has for dealing with applications in an acceptable time.
About 730. There are, in addition, almost 100 for whom telephones will be installed within the next two months or so.
About 680 of the 730 applications on hands were made during the last two years, and about 440 of them were made during the last 12 months.
It is hoped to instal telephones for about 350 of the 730 by the end of this year and for the balance—largely those requiring abnormal linework— progressively during 1976 and 1977.
Does the Minister consider that a two-year waiting period for a telephone is acceptable? Is there nothing his Department can do to cut out the frustrating delays experienced by applicants for telephones at present? We have in Wexford—and I am sure the same applies to every county in Ireland—waiting periods of over two years. This is a horrible situation.
Of course, I am not satisfied and the Government are not satisfied and no Minister would be satisfied with the situation in which there is a long waiting list for telephones. The only answer is to step up the rate of connections and this is being done.
Is it true that all overtime has been cut out in the engineering section of the Department?
There is another question down to me on that subject.
Is that one of the reasons?
It is not a reason and it is not a fact.
Even when you have a telephone it might take you two years to get through.
Would the Minister repeat the last part of his reply to the supplementary question?
I said that it is not a reason because it is not a fact —the allegation that all overtime has been done away with in that Department.
Surely it is a fact, certainly in some counties——
This question is leading to arguments and we cannot have arguments at Question Time.
There is a question down to me on the matter.
I am not referring to that but to the previous supplementary. Did the Minister say that connections were being speeded up?
Yes.
Does this speeding up apply to every other area as well as to Wexford?
That is a separate matter. This question applies specifically to Wexford.
It applies generally.
Would the Minister accept that is an untruth?
I do not accept that it is an untruth and I think it is regrettable that the Deputy should have said so. I am not in the habit of supplying untruths in answer to parliamentary questions or otherwise. If the Deputy wants to put down a question to have the statistics on telephone connections, I am prepared to give them.
The Deputy should not allege that any other Deputy told a deliberate untruth.
The Minister is very good at it himself.
If I may say——
The Deputy may not say: the Deputy may ask a supplementary question.
Will the Minister submit evidence to the House that there has been a speeding up in telephone connections?
Yes, I will give the Deputy the information.
Will this be general, all over the country?
If the Deputy puts down a question I will answer it.
Or will it be confined to constituencies that the Minister represents or some of his colleagues represent?
This is leading to a debate. I am calling the next question. Deputy Molloy for a quick supplementary—I have indicated that I am passing on to the next question.
If the number of connections has been speeded up, is this because the Minister has issued instructions that priority is to be given to urban connections at the expense of rural applicants?
Is it a fact that applicants residing over a quarter of a mile from a rural exchange cannot now get connections or that any application which involves new work and requires the erection of 9-10 poles is not to be acted on?
This is leading to a general debate.
In this way, it is possible that the number of——
I am sorry; we cannot have a debate on the matter.
——telephones being connected in urban areas could be speeded up at the expense of rural applicants.
The short answer to the Deputy's question is "no".
My information comes from the depths of the Department.
That is a disgraceful allegation.
It is a statement.
That a Deputy should be inducing civil servants to give private information——
(Interruptions.)
Order.
Blessed art thou amongst men.
The Deputy has a proper way of ascertaining information and he can do so by putting down parliamentary questions.
14.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of direct lines available from Letterkenny telephone exchange to Dublin; and the number of such lines that are out of order and the period or periods in each case.
There are 28 direct lines from Letterkenny to Dublin. I am not aware that any of these are out of order.
The last outage involving Letterkenny to Dublin trunk circuits was on 2nd April, 1975. This was caused by an equipment fault that morning at Sligo and service between Letterkenny and Dublin was affected from 9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Prior to that service had been interrupted on 28th February by an equipment fault on the Western coaxial cable which lasted from 9.40 a.m. to 10.55 a.m.
Ten lines have been out of action since last July and a further ten lines have been suspected for the last three or four months and nothing has been done to remedy the situation? These are in addition to the frequent breaks which have taken place over the past year or two since the coaxial cable was laid.
I do not know exactly what Deputy Blaney means when he implies that the telephone lines in Letterkenny may be suspect. Otherwise his information does not appear to be accurate.
If the Minister does not want to deal with this question we can have a general debate on it.
I have dealt with the question.
If the Minister wants to imply by innuendo that there is a suggestion that the Letterkenny lines are special, I can tell him that there is——
A question Deputy, please.
I have put down a question and the Minister suggested that——
The Deputy may not make a speech. This is Question Time.
I am not making a speech; I am answering innuendo and suggestions.
The Deputy may ask a relevant supplementary question.
The Chair should protect all Deputies and not just the Minister.
That is an unfair and deplorable allegation.
It is not.
I am affording the Deputy the protection of the House by allowing him to ask a specific and relevant supplementary question. He may not make a speech.
I want the Chair to realise that I have put down a specific question to which I have not got a specific and true answer.
The Chair has no control over that.
I know.
Question No. 15.
The Minister has not given me any information except to say that he does not know what is going on.
I have answered the Deputy's question in detail and specifically and the Deputy knows it. He is making a nuisance of himself.
The Minister has not given a truthful answer. Either he does not know or he does not care.
I have called the next question.
I do not know and I have answered the Deputy's question.
15.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when the new telephone numbers applicable to the north County Dublin area shown in the 1975 Telephone Directory, which shows changes from those operable in 1974, will take effect.
It is expected the number changes will be effected within the next two months.
Would the Minister not agree that the present situation is, to say the least of it, Iudicrous? If one makes a 'phone call in the north county area using the numbers shown in the new directory, a recorded voice says that the subscriber is available at the 1974 number. What happens if you do not have a 1974 directory close at hand, the standard situation in public kiosks? The recorded message is not adequate. Surely the Minister can change it?
What method would the Deputy suggest? I regret the inconveniences to subscribers in such circumstances but it is inevitable, and it always has been, in an expanding telephone system. The number changes in north County Dublin referred to by the Deputy affect subscribers in certain areas and will take effect when a new exchange is opened at Santry about the end of May. Until that takes place, this is the only way in which we can deal with this situation.
As the Minister is aware, the alteration between the 1974 and the 1975 directories is in the first digit of the telephone number. Surely it is possible for the recorded announcement to say that the subscriber should ring the same number but changing the first digit from a four to a two.
I will have the Deputy's suggestion considered.
16.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if the ban on overtime in the engineering section of the Post Office services will have any effect on the quality of telephone service available to the community; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
There is no ban on overtime in my Department's engineering branch.
Is the Minister stating that there is no restriction whatsoever on the amount of overtime which can be undertaken by those employed in the engineering section, over and above what was normal in the last five or ten years?
The normal principle is applied. Overtime is always kept to the minimum necessary in relation to the needs of the service and the necessity to exercise financial restraint. That has always been and is the position now.
Is the Minister saying that instructions have not issued to employees in the engineering section that overtime is not to be allowed in rural areas?
Instructions are issued from time to time to exercise restraint in the level of overtime.
Are we now getting slowly at the truth? Why does it have to be extracted so painfully?
The Deputy is entitled to truthful answers and he is getting them.
How much, if any, overtime is carried out by the engineering staff on new connections?
That is a separate question.
If the Deputy puts down a question, I will answer him.
Question No. 17.
Would the Minister not agree that, where there is such a backlog of work, any economies made in the telephone service are false economy?
I am well disposed to the implications of the Deputy's view.
Is the Minister giving an assurance to those employed in the engineering section of his Department that there are no restrictions above the normal operating in relation to the availability of overtime and they can be satisfied that the same amount of overtime deemed necessary in previous years will be allowed now and in the future?
The only assurance I can give the Deputy is that the same principle is observed as has been observed constantly and that is to keep overtime to the minimum necessary in relation to the needs of the service and the necessity to exercise financial restraint.
Question No. 17.
In his answer the Minister said that——
The Deputy must ask a question.
Would the Minister agree that the telephone service is in a very bad state at the moment? Would he also not agree that more overtime would improve the situation?
The telephone service is in a regrettable condition. I inherited it in a regrettable condition and I am trying to improve it by supplying capital on a scale far exceeding that supplied by the previous Government.
(Interruptions.)
How come the service is getting worse?
I do not agree.
We have dealt with this question for an unduly long time. I now call Question No. 17.
There is a great shortage——
Order please, Deputy Molloy.
——in stores and repairs being carried out——
Deputy Molloy, please.
——because of inadequate money available. Within the next two years there will be no telephone service in this country——
If the Deputy persists——
The Minister does not know what is going on in his Department.
17.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will arrange for the erection of a telephone kiosk at Doonaha, County Clare.
18.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will arrange for the provision of a public telephone kiosk in Dunmore village, Kilkenny.
19.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will arrange for the erection of a public telephone kiosk at Booleigh, Athy, County Kildare.
20.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will arrange for the erection of a public telephone kiosk at Ballyroe, Athy, County Kildare.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 18, 19 and 20 together.
Kiosks are not being provided in rural areas such as Doonaha, Dunmore village, Booleigh and Ballyroe where there are no post offices.
Has the Minister gone into this matter personally and investigated the fairness or justice of this overall clamp-down on the provision of kiosks where it can be shown that a need for them truly exists and that the lack of service in certain areas in the country is abysmal? If he has not done this to his satisfaction, will he undertake to do so? I can assure him that there is a dire need for public kiosks all over the country. We cannot merely wash our hands of it and say that if there is no post office there will not be any kiosk.
It is absolutely wrong to refer to any "clamp-down" in relation to kiosks. The principle which I mentioned here has been followed for a very long time and was followed by a Government in which Deputy Blaney was a member without, so far as I know, any protest against that system. The only modification introduced is that kiosks can now be provided under guarantee by the local authority or by any other creditworthy group against the loss involved in providing and maintaining them. Deputies interested in getting a kiosk for a given area have the opportunity of proceeding according to this method. A number of Deputies have already done so and a number of such guarantees have been provided. The system is working well.
Deputy J. Gibbons and Deputy Blaney rose.
Two Deputies rose together. I am calling Deputy J. Gibbons.
Do I understand from what the Minister has just said that it is actually futile for people living in rural areas nowadays to look for the provision of a telephone kiosk at all because it will not be granted? I understood that from what the Minister has just said.
If the Deputy understood that, I do not know how he did because it is not what I said. I said, in reply to the question, that kiosks are not provided in rural areas where there are no post offices. Policy has been to provide kiosks in rural areas only in replacement of call office telephones in sub-post offices and also to provide such kiosks in places where there have not been sub-post offices but where the local authority are prepared to provide a guarantee or where another body, such as Muintir na Tíre for example, are prepared to guarantee the Department against loss. My Department always consider the provision of such guarantee in a sympathetic light.
Question No. 21. Deputy Blaney.
Surely it is not accurate to call the village of Dunmore, which is only a mile from the city of Kilkenny, and is partly suburban in nature, truly rural? Since there seems to be a preference for providing telephone kiosks in urban centres ought not the village of Dunmore qualify under that heading?
Am I not entitled to ask a question?
I will call the Deputy.
I have not visited Dunmore but I think it is a small hamlet.
It would save the Minister if he got all these together. When you called Deputy Gibbons earlier you insisted that I resume my seat.
I called the Deputy because he had a question down. I explained the reasons why, Deputy.
You called me on this occasion and sat looking at Deputy Gibbons. What I am saying is not to Deputy Gibbons. I am saying to the Chair——
Sometimes the Chair is disobeyed in the House.
The Chair is partial and he knows that.
(Interruptions.)
The Deputy indicated last week he would make such attacks on the Chair. I am not surprised. The Deputy is carrying out his promise of attacking the Chair.
The Chair has deliberately shown this partiality now and everybody in the House has seen it.
The Deputy is anxious to malign the Chair. I appreciate that. He is on record as saying so.
The Deputy is anxious to get a fair deal in the House and he is not getting it from the Chair.
Deputy Power.
I endeavoured to answer Deputy Gibbons and I was prevented from doing so by Deputy Blaney's interruption. May I now answer Deputy Gibbons?
The Minister made a statement which is not true.
I accept your ruling, whichever it may be, but before taking a new question I think I should answer a question already put. My understanding about Dunmore village is that it is quite a small hamlet without a post office. If I am wrong in any of this, the Deputy can correct me. It comprises eight houses, a church and a shop with a population of about 30, within a one mile radius of a population of about 150. Since there is no sub-post office at Dunmore the provision of a kiosk there cannot be favourably considered under existing regulations and practice but a kiosk could be provided at Dunmore under guarantee against the loss involved in providing and maintaining it and the Deputy might wish to consider that possibility.
Would the Minister clarify if this system whereby a local authority can guarantee the provision of a telephone kiosk came into operation during his term of office or was it first mooted in the time of his predecessor?
Many things were mooted but did not happen under my predecessors.
Question No. 21.
Was the facility available to local authorities to guarantee telephone kiosks there before the Minister entered on his present office?
I do not believe it was.
Would the Minister let me know the answer to that?
Yes.
Arising from the Minister's reply, what I want to get to is his original reply. Is he really telling the House that he is merely following a practice already established, which implies that no telephone kiosks were provided under the previous Government other than outside post offices? Is he really putting to the House that all these areas, which his Department should be serving, should now, in fact, be subsidised out of the rates and by the ratepayers, who are already so heavily overburdened that they can scarcely carry the load placed on them?
In relation to the second part of the Deputy's question what is involved is not subsidisation, except contingently. What is provided is a guarantee against loss and no local authority are required to give such guarantee unless they wish to do so. As regards the rest of the question, the rule whereby kiosks are not provided in rural areas where there are no post offices was in operation when I took office.
That is not so.
Order.
Whether it was in operation throughout the entire 16 previous years I cannot say.
That is not so. The Minister should ascertain this for himself.
I do not know what happened in County Donegal when the Deputy was a Minister.
The Minister may not know but it is his business to know.
Did the Minister say he was not aware when the guaranteed scheme for public telephone kiosks was introduced? Did the Minister say that?
I cannot give the Deputy at the moment the exact date when it was introduced. It is of recent introduction and many Deputies opposite indicated their surprise on learning from me within the last two months it was in operation. That was before the Deputy became spokesman on this subject.
Is the Minister aware that this scheme was introduced by his predecessor?
I am not so aware.
I was thinking the Minister was not.