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.

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