asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state how many telephone operators are at present employed in his Department throughout the Republic of Ireland and how many of such operators are competent to discharge their duties and answer subscribers' queries in the Irish language.

Telephone operating is performed by a number of grades of male and female officers, the majority of whom are full-time established or temporary officers and the remainder part-time. The total number is 1,050

Most of the full-time operators recruited since the establishment of the State have had a knowledge of Irish on entry. It is not, however, possible to say how many of them are at present competent to discharge their duties through the medium of Irish.