asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when the new digital telephone exchange with 1,400 new lines will be in operation in Wexford, as the present system, which is 50 years old and extremely over-loaded, is a severe handicap particularly to industrial and commercial interests in the area.

In the last quarter of this year.

Could the Minister speed up this proposition? I know prospective industrialists who have been put off coming to Wexford town because the telephone service is so bad. Would the Minister agree that this will probably contribute further to the disastrous unemployment situation in that area?

There were not too many applications for telephones in that area compared with other areas. For 1980 there were five, 1981, 79 and 1982, 119: total 203.

41.