asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a public telephone kiosk will be erected at Corbally, Cummer, Tuam, County Galway.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
17.
It is not proposed to provide a telephone kiosk at Corbally, Cummer, Tuam, County Galway, as the use likely to be made of one there would not be sufficient to warrant its provision.
18.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when, in view of the fact that at present public telephones are in the process of being adapted to the new price code, his Department propose to have all public telephones equipped with 10p slots, bearing in mind the considerable inconvenience caused to users, arising out of the fact that (a) the 1p and 2p slots are now redundant and (b) a call from Dublin to Cork now necessitates the provision of 12 5p pieces; and the percentage of Irish telephones that are coin-operated and the number of these that have already been converted to accept 10p coins.
Many public telephones in automatic areas have already been equipped with a 10p slot. A programme to equip all remaining public telephones, both in automatic and manual areas, with a 10p slot is under way and should be completed within the next six months.
About 9 per cent of all telephone exchange lines have coin boxes and about 10 per cent of these have been equipped with a 10p slot. It is planned to increase this to about 40 per cent during 1981, selecting the most heavily used coin boxes. The remainder will have attention progressively.
In view of the inflation in telephone charges which has taken place and the fact that it is stated in the question that it requires 12 5p pieces to telephone from Dublin to Cork for three minutes would the Minister consider whether the boxes should not be equipped to take 50p coins as well as 10p coins?
That is a question which will be considered by the Department in the purchase of new coin boxes in the future.
Deputy Horgan.
Could the Minister give the House any indication of the cost of every round of change in the coin boxes to accept different kinds of coinage and how many such rounds there have been in the last five or six years?
I do not have that information. It is a separate question. If the Deputy puts down a question I shall answer it. I have not the information to answer that type of question at this instance.
Would the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, in considering these things, acknowledge the bad economic planning of the Government and that we shall have to use 50p pieces more rapidly than we have been using 10p pieces?
I would not accept that.
The Minister does not accept that? That is proof that he is blind.
No, not yet.
19.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when a telephone service will be provided for a person (details supplied) in County Galway who applied in 1974.
It is expected that service will be provided within four months or so.
20.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (a) the number of applicants currently awaiting telephone service in County Roscommon; and (b) the number awaiting service for two years and more.
The numbers are (a) 1,000 and (b) 400.
21.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of public telephones in the Dublin city and county areas; the number of these functioning at present; and the action he is taking to make telephones as vandal-proof as possible.
There are over 800 public telephones in the Dublin city and county areas. Unfortunately, at any given time, as many as one in every three may not be in full working order, the great majority because of vandalism.
Over the years, various steps have been taken to reduce vandalism be reinforcing of coinboxes, better lighting in kiosks, improved maintenance attention and, more recently, a new type of kiosk structure.
Early next year, a programme to replace over a period of a few years most existing public telephones in Dublin with a new type if installation will commence. The new coinboxes, which will include a facility for dialling STD calls, have been designed with a view to reducing significantly the risk of vandalism or theft.
Would the Minister accept that one of the reasons why telephones are vandalised is that when they are situate in an enclosed kiosk it makes it easier for the vandal to have a go at them without being seen by other members of the public? In the light of that, would he not consider, even on an experimental basis, the provision of telephone kiosks such as exist in the United States of America, which are much more open and visible from all points of view by members of the public?
The new kiosk structure will give a much better view. It is not as enclosed as the old one was. We are certainly considering the idea mentioned by the Deputy in relation to a kiosk which is totally exposed but with an overhead cover.
22.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (i) the average waiting-time between application and installation, and (ii) the average waiting time for a transfer of a (a) private telephone and (b) public telephone; the number of telephone applications outstanding at present; and when he expects to clear the backlog.
The average waiting time of applications for telephone service held at present is about 18 months.
The information requested in regard to transfers in not readily available but since applications for transfer are accorded priority, the average waiting time would be less than 18 months. The number of applications outstanding at present is about 94,000 net.
Because of the substantial volume of work involved in meeting the applications on hands and the buoyancy of demand, it is expected that it will take at least four years before it will be possible to meet all applications for service promptly.
Would the Minister say whether the 94,000 represents an increase on the previous year's figures and, if so, how much of an increase?
I do not have the comparison figures for earlier years but certainly this year it has been described as being very buoyant in the first seven months of the year.
Would the Minister agree that using terminology such as "the demand is very buoyant" is totally misleading because the problem is not that the demand is buoyant but that it is unsatisfied? Would the Minister agree that the situation in relation to telephones is getting worse rather than better?
The impact being made this year will certainly only keep pace with the present year's demand. It will take an accelerated installation move to make severe inroads into the application list over the next couple of years.
The Minister has said that the average waiting time for telephones is 18 months but how can he explain that it takes up to six years to get one in the town of Letterkenny?
That is quite possible and there are many reasons for it. It is possible that there are no terminations at the exchange or there may be an overloaded cable which necessitates the installation of a new cable. There are many reasons why an applicant might have to wait a long time.
If the Minister recognises those things as the reasons why people have to wait six years for a telephone what is he doing about them?
The National Coalition were in power for a number of years——
The Minister should stand on his own two feet.
We increased the connections from 17,000 to 43,000, about two and a half times, in a little over four years.
Why is it that the Minister cannot stand on his own two feet?
He does not know his own figures.
I can stand on my own two feet.
Why is it that the Minister has to make excuses? He should admit his own failures.
As a practical suggestion I should like to ask the Minister if he has made any examination of the paper work procedure involved in telephone installations and transfers. If the Minister has done so I should like to know if he is aware of the many systems that could be introduced to improve those procedures. Has the Minister any plans to introduce some level of efficiency into that area of operation?
I have done an examination of the amount of paper work involved in a single application for a telephone. I should like to tell the house that 29 pieces of paper pass through various channels. I am making arrangements to introduce greater efficiency in that area.
It must take up to one month for each piece of paper to pass from one section to another.
23.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applications received in his Department for new telephones in the Carrigaline area of County Cork; if he is aware of the long delay in installing telephones; and the steps, if any, he intends to take to alleviate the problem.
There are about 320 waiting applicants in the Carrigaline area at present. The delay in providing service is due mainly to a shortage of exchange equipment and it is expected that this will be remedied within the next four months or so. Service will be provided quickly then for most of the waiting applicants.
Is it proposed to introduce a subscriber carrier system to speed up the matter? That would avoid the delay involved in laying extensive trunk cables.
The supply of subscriber carrier systems cannot effect a solution. The main problem is that there is a shortage of exchange terminations. There is also a shortage of cables. It is expected that a 1,000-line mobile exchange will be provided in February 1981 and that additional trunks will be provided to Cork. That will make it possible to provide a service to about 300 of the waiting applications by April or May. The balance will require local cabling but it is expected that they will be cleared progressively within the year.
Did the Minister say that 300 of the 320 outstanding applicants will be cleared within six months?
The first 300 of waiting applicants will be cleared by April or May.
That is welcome news.