Source: http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0331/D.0331.198112030011.html
Timestamp: 2013-05-21 15:39:21
Document Index: 303118945

Matched Legal Cases: ['arte 1079', 'arte 1080', 'arte 1082', 'arte 1084', 'arte 1086', 'arte 1088']

D�il �ireann - Volume 331 - 03 December, 1981 - Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
D�il �ireann - Volume 331 - 03 December, 1981Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Telephone Service.
Mr. R. Ryan Mr. R. Ryan 1. Mr. R. Ryan asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the number of applicants for telephone service in each of the Dublin postal districts and in the balance of the city and county of Dublin on 31 July 1981; and the estimated time it will take to supply a telephone to these applicants.
Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs (Mr. Harte) Paddy Harte 1079
Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs (Mr. Harte): The information requested is not available in the format requested and its compilation [1079] would involve a disproportionate amount of staff time.On 31 July 1981 there were about 38,000 applications for telephone service on hands in Dublin city and county.It is expected that a majority of the existing waiting applicants in the area will have been offered service by the end of next year and the balance will be given service over the following year or so according as the remaining cabling, exchange etc., schemes required to meet them are completed.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea 2. Mr. Killilea asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the arrangements for the completion of the microwave link at Tuam, County Galway; and if there is any change in the date already set for the completion of this project.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: Work on the provision of a permanent microwave link between Galway and Tuam is in progress and it is expected that it will be completed in the second quarter of 1982. The aim had been to have the link in service this year but delay in completion of the tower at the Galway terminal has prevented this.Because of the delay a temporary radio link was brought into service earlier this year and this will meet requirements fully until the permanent link becomes available.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: Now that the provision of the micro-wave link has been postponed until mid-1982 I should like to know if in the interim a mast could be put on the microwave link? Is it technically possible to link it directly to Athlone because it serves most of Mayo, all the 093 area, all the 094 area and all the 092 area? If that was possible it would give tremendous relief to those areas. Is it possible to introduce that interim arrangement pending the final installation of the telecommunication exchange in Galway?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte 1080
Mr. Harte: I am assured by the engineers concerned that the radio link serves equally as well as the microwave link and that the only difference would be that the microwave link would be a permanent [1080] construction unlike the radio link. The Deputy may take credit for having that installed, but it is serving equally as well as the microwavelink. There would be no advantage in changing the present arrangements.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: I am concerned about an area outside the 093 area which the radio link now serves. I should like to inform the Minister that there is an 092 area operating in Tuam which the radio link does not serve. He should also consider the 094 area, which serves Castlebar and most parts of Mayo. My question is a simple one. Technically speaking, is it possible to readjust the microwave link to connect directly to Athlone and then on to the national grid rather than waiting for the connection to Galway city, the permanent and proper way to do it eventually?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I will have that considered, but if the Deputy had asked that question initially I would have had all the information for him today. That is not the question he asked and the information I have given was an answer to his question. The deep interest the Deputy had in the Tuam area in providing the necessary radio link between Galway and Tuam has served that area well and he deserves full credit for that.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea 3. Mr. Killilea asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he has any immediate plans to install a radio link to Inishshark Island, County Galway, so as to enable a telephone system to operate there; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I understand that there are no permanent residents on the island and in view of the cost of providing service there and of the difficulties in maintenance that would be involved, I have no immediate plans to provide a telephone service at this island. The possibility of providing service for an applicant there will be examined, however, when resources permit.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea 1081
Mr. Killilea: On the contrary, there [1081] are applications from people who wish to retire to the island. It is only a small technical matter and something which the Minister and the Department should take into account. I should like to know if there is any change in the policy of the Department concerning island telecommunication links in general? Has the Minister changed the philosophy and the policy that existed in the Department when he took it over and, if so, what is the change?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: There will be no change in policy. Again, if the Deputy had asked that question originally he would have been given a reply to it. I should like to point out that there are no residents on this island and that the Deputy is concerned about providing a telephone service for a temporary resident who wrote to the Deputy when he was Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs from an address in Germany. That person wrote on a number of occasions asking that a telephone line be provided for his summer residence on the island but he is the only person who has put in an application in respect of the island. In view of the fact that it would cost about �8,000 to do this, I am sure the Deputy will agree that there are areas in his constituency where such an amount of money would provide more telephones.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: That statement is not correct. The Minister is referring to a person who wrote to me from Hamburg in Germany, but he wrote since the last general election when I was not in the Department. Is the Minister aware that three other people who wish to retire to the island have applied? What has happened to their applications? Have they been lost?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: The information I have is official and up to date.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: It is not correct.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte 1082
Mr. Harte: As far as we can ascertain there are no permanent inhabitants on the Inishshark island, which lies off Inishboffin [1082] island. There is an application for a telephone service on the island in the name of Erhardt Lapp, and that was made in 1974.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: I will give the Minister the names of the other three applicants privately because it appears he is not aware of them.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: The application was made in 1974. Since then the Deputy spent 18 months in this office but did not do anything about it. If the Deputy gives me information which would substantially alter the application I will give very sympathetic consideration to it.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: There is no “if” about it. I will give the Minister the information.
Mrs. Acheson Mrs. Acheson 4. Mrs. Acheson asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if there are proposals in his Department to transfer part of the 052 area to Waterford exchange 051; if so, if this will result in a reduction of exchange staff in all grades at Clonmel exchange; and the proposals he has in relation to the existing staff in this district.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: The intention is that under fully automatic conditions operator services for the 052 area will be provided at Waterford exchange. The manual exchange at Clonmel will, however, be retained for some time although there will be a gradual reduction in staffing there according as manual exchanges served by Clonmel exchange are converted to automatic working and the volume of operator-assisted calls declines.Employment at other exchanges will be available for full-time day staff who opt to transfer. Arrangements which will apply to to other staff have been agreed on a national basis with the staff organisations concerned.
Mrs Acheson Mrs Acheson 1083
Mrs Acheson: I am not satisfied with the Minister's reply. I do not like the idea of other exchanges. I should like to ask the Minister if he is aware that there are 80 people involved. What is the Minister's intention in regard to the placing of [1083] the 80 people who do not wish to go to Waterford, the exchange mentioned? Those people do not wish to be discommoded. Yesterday we heard of the people in Dublin who wish to go home and today I am telling the Minister about the people in Clonmel who wish to stay in that town rather than be sent to Waterford. There are 35 people involved and I should like to know what employment the Minister intends to provide for those who do not wish to go to Waterford.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I have great sympathy for the Deputy's point of view but the fact is that, as we go automatic, operators will be made redundant. That is a fact we cannot run away from. In an attempt to overcome the grave personal difficulties which many operators find themselves in, such as those outlined by the Deputy, the Department have agreed with the unions representing the staff to give very generous redundancy payments, far in excess of anything ever dreamed of before on this island because it is a once-off situation. I should like to assure the House and the Deputy that any reasonable request put forward by those operators will be sympathetically considered by the Minister and the Department. There is no easy answer to this problem and I appreciate the Deputy's concern, but there is not anything the Deputy or I can do about it.
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds: Does the Minister agree that it is time for a new approach to the whole question of redundancies in relation to the introduction of new automatic exchanges? If he does agree is the time not ripe to devolve more work to the regions where much of the work being conducted in Dublin in relation to accounts and many other areas could be done? With the introduction of computerisation it is only a question of a datalink service. In this way jobs could be preserved in many parts of rural Ireland. I had taken the first step along that road.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte 1084
Mr. Harte: I agree totally with the Deputy and I am prepared to accommodate him in every way possible. However, [1084] I should like him to put forward something more positive than merely asking whether I agree with him. I assure him that if he wishes to speak to me in any detail about this problem, he will find my door open. I assure him also that any proposal he may put before me will be considered sympathetically and, if found practical, put into operation.
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds: I shall be happy to discuss the matter with the Minister but is he not aware that I had taken the first step along this road by way of a decision to appoint district managers in the various regions in so far as telecommunications were concerned. The intention was then to build a regional structure within that framework so that all the work that needs to be done in a district, including information on accounts and sales, could be done in the region.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I am aware of that step taken by the Deputy but I, too, am particulalry sympathetic to the concept of decentralisation. Since taking over responsibility in this area I have had talks on many occasions, very often into the early hours of the morning, with the unions concerned in an effort to find a way of overcoming the demarcation line and that commonsense might prevail. The Deputy will understand that with both services being separated in 1982 there is a good deal of suspicion on the part of many unions involved that some of their work will be eroded. Therefore, it is not opportune at this time to try to get the agreement of the unions or to expect them to be ambitious about doing something that they would not normally do.
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds 1085
Mr. Reynolds: I accept that there are difficulties and I am well aware of the situation so far as the unions are concerned but surely the day of reckoning has come and action must be taken now, not when redundancies have taken place? The Minister should pursue this problem actively with a view to removing the demarcation line. Is it not in the long term interest of all the employees and [1085] trade unions concerned that a solution be found?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I can only reassure the Deputy that he is welcome to come and talk with me about this problem. Since my appointment I have had talks with the personnel at a number of exchanges and have put to them the points that the Deputy is putting to me. They know the services that the public need and if they come forward with any reasonable proposal it will be considered. I assure the House that there is deep sympathy on the part of the Department regarding the position obtaining in telephone exchanges. In relation to decentralisation in general I was in contact with the district managers only a week ago and I propose having further discussions with them. If I may be parochial for a moment, I see no reason for people in Donegal having to contact Sligo who in turn contact Dublin about the telephone service in Donegal. That is the procedure under the machinery that has been operated since the foundation of this State.
Mrs. Acheson Mrs. Acheson Mrs. Acheson: Would the Minister be prepared to give special consideration to Clonmel and perhaps start a retraining programme for some of the staff at that exchange who may become redundant? We all know that redundancy money is soul-destroying. Would the Minister be prepared to make every effort to ensure that when there is the change to the new automatic exchange at Waterford, the personnel at Clonmel can be absorbed into some other type of Posts and Telegraphs employment?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I appreciate the Deputy's special interest in Clonmel but I cannot take that exchange as a special case. I might add that were it not for the fact of my not being able to travel today I would be in Bantry talking about this sort of problem.
Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald: What about the promise that was made?
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte 1086
Mr. Harte: We are talking about a very [1086] human problem, about people losing their jobs.
Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald: The Taoiseach seemed to have appreciated that before the election.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: One would expect the former Minister for Labour to show more sympathy instead of merely making snide remarks.
Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald: There is no point in talking about sympathy. The Government have been elected and should get on with the task of dealing with the problem.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: The Deputy who asked the supplementary is entitled to a reply. As I have said, I cannot contemplate giving special treatment to Clonmel but I can assure Deputy Acheson that if the local unions involved will agree to telephonists being given duties other than those for which they are trained now, there will be a willingness on the part of the Department to accommodate them. We would be very generous in that respect.
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: The Minister intimated that he spoke recently to the district managers. Am I to take it that these people have been appointed but, if not, to whom did the Minister speak? Yesterday in the House the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs said that an interim arrangement had been made in respect of the telephonists at Bantry but now we discover that the Minister of State wishes to go there and talk to those people about some arrangement.
An Ceann Comhairle John F. O'Connell An Ceann Comhairle: Has the Deputy a question?
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: What does the Minister mean by saying that it is his intention to go to Bantry to discuss the matter while his Minister tells us that an arrangement has been reached already? There are a number of manual exchanges in which the staff are in the same position as those referred to by Deputy Acheson.
An Ceann Comhairle John F. O'Connell 1087
[1087] An Ceann Comhairle: We do not want a debate on the matter. The supplementary concerns Clonmel.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I should have said that I talked to the district engineers and not district managers. That was merely a slip of the tongue. Regarding the question of my travelling to Bantry, arrangements have been negotiated successfully with the trade unions concerned in regard to officials at the exchange there, but there are people in Bantry who wish to put their point of view and it was in the interest of showing my concern for and my consolidation with them that I offered to go to meet them. Does the Deputy take exception to that?
Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea Mr. Killilea: I agree that the Minister should go to meet them but I was confused as to what was said in reply to the supplementary.
An Ceann Comhairle John F. O'Connell An Ceann Comhairle: I shall allow one more supplementary only.
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds: The Minister talked about the difficulties of the various trade unions in respect of the decentralisation programme, but is he not aware that similar difficulties arose when I put the proposal in relation to the appointment of district managers? Is he not aware also that those difficulties were overcome at that time and that if he continues along the path followed then he should be able to find a solution to the problem now. I admit that what is involved is a rather complex operation. Would the Minister agree also that his first venture into this area must not be on the advice available to him in relation to the setting up of a similar-type office in Letterkenny where he drew the wrath of three or four trade unions down on his shoulders? Surely that is not the way to go forward? I am sure the Minister will agree with that.
Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald Mr. Gene Fitzgerald: Is that the Fine Gael headquarters?
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds: Yes.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte 1088
[1088] Mr. Harte: I cannot add anything to what I have already told the Deputy. I extend a hand of welcome to him to come to my office and discuss this matter. The Deputy is far off the mark in his remarks about setting up an office in Letterkenny. There has been no disagreement. There has been a sensitivity about people discussing demarcation lines at this particular time.(Interruptions.)
An Ceann Comhairle John F. O'Connell An Ceann Comhairle: Ceist a 5. This could develop into argument. Would the Minister of State please answer Question No. 5?(Interruptions.)
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: I will not be roared down by Deputy Reynolds. I have control of what I am doing and there is no friction between the local unions in Donegal and me. They are all friends of mine.
Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds: If the Minister of State comes to my office I will show him all the evidence he wants. The Minister of State tried to railroad the unions and it did not work.
Mr. Harte Mr. Harte Mr. Harte: If the Deputy comes to my office he will receive a better welcome and a better hearing than he is giving to me at the moment.
An Ceann Comhairle John F. O'Connell An Ceann Comhairle: Will the Minister please answer Question No. 5?