asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the duration of time before a subscriber obtains a reply to a call to the Dublin telephone exchange after dialling; and the total number of operators employed in the Dublin telephone exchanges in 1981 and 1982.

: The average time taken at the central telephone exchange in Dublin to reply to callers is 13 seconds. The average number of operators employed in 1981 was 1,920 and in 1982 was 1,815.

: I noticed that the Minister could not keep a straight face when giving that reply. Has he tried to dial the Dublin telephone exchange any evening after 6.30 p.m.?

: I use the telephone service very often.

: That is a separate question.

: It is part of my question.

: Perhaps the Minister does not need to use the telephone exchange.

: Is the Minister aware that more than 250 part-time operators were let go some months ago and have not been replaced? Is that contributing to the present foul-up in the telephone exchange?

: The speed of answer at the exchanges at Dame Court, Saint Andrew Street and Hely Buildings is improving gradually, whether Deputies believe it or not. The average time to reply to a caller is 13 seconds.

: A final supplementary.

: There are very few supplementaries one could ask arising out of the Minister's reply, but he knows as well as I do that his reply is totally inaccurate.

25.