asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will arrange for inquiries relating to the provision of new telephones from both the public and public representatives in Cork to be dealt with in Cork rather than having them referred to Dublin with consequent long delays.

Inquiries by customers and by public representatives about the provision of telephone service in the Cork area can be made and are made at the Department's telephone sales office in Cork. The only inquiries relating to provision of telephone service in the Cork area normally dealt with at Dublin are those addressed to the Minister and to Departmental headquarters by those making the inquiries.

34.

asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if it is proposed to maintain a local (10) auto/manual exchange at Clifden, County Galway after automation takes place.

No. Operator services for Clifden and the exchanges served from Clifden at present will be provided from Galway when automatic service is introduced for them. The operator exchange at Galway will have adequate capacity to handle traffic from more exchanges at that stage.

Taking into account the situation concerning the interim arrangement made for Bantry in County Cork, have the Government changed the rules? Taking into account that employment in the Clifden exchange is of great importance to the telephonists whose living conditions are much worse than they are in Cork, can the Minister now give us a reappraisal of the situation so as to give us the hope that at least some of the people in the telephone exchange in Clifden will get what they are getting in Bantry and in other parts of the country? It is important that places like Clifden, in the most westerly part of the country, should get employment because there is so little employment there.

I sympathise with Deputy Killilea's point of view, but there is no comparison between Clifden and Bantry.

That is for sure.

Cork cannot provide a satisfactory service for the Bantry area. Galway City can provide a very good service for the Clifden area. If I were to accept what Deputy Killilea says, we would have 500 or 600 exchanges of this kind in the Republic. Is the Deputy serious in suggesting such a thing?

If an automanual service is being installed in Bantry, I would appreciate the same service for the employees in Clifden.

If Galway is not in a position to give the Clifden area a satisfactory service we will consider as an interim service providing a 10 exchange. The best advice available to me is that the Galway system can cater for Clifden adequately. If we were to agree to do what the Deputy has been asking we would have between 500 and 600 automanual exchanges throughout the country.

What applies in one district should apply in all districts. Is it at the whim of the Minister that certain exchanges will be automanual while others will not?

That is not so.

35.

asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the reason the new digital exchanges at Athlone and Kells have not been brought into service.

The new digital exchange at Athlone was brought into service last week. It is planned to bring that at Kells into service within the next few days.