Would the Minister agree that the number of complaints which he asserts should be looked at in relation to the total number of telephone users is not at all a reflection of the situation as it exists at the moment but is rather a result of the system being so bad that people just do not complain? They have enough bother trying to get a call without complaining about it.

I have sympathy with the Deputy's observations, but the remedy for that is sustained, massive investment in the service. The service is suffering from the lack of that in the past years, from systematic undernourishment up to the Telephone Capital Act which was passed early in the lifetime of this Dáil.