DR. KENNYI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the Post Office has completed the telephonic communication between Belfast and other Northern towns and Dublin, and when will the service be open to the public; whether any, and, if so, what, steps have been taken to establish telephonic communication between Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, and other towns in the South and West of Ireland and Dublin; and, if no such steps have yet been taken, when action in that direction may be looked for; whether it is in contemplation to lay a telephonic cable between J Ireland and England; and, if so, when will this service be open to the public; and what is the total amount appropriated for the development of the telephonic system by the Post Office, and how much of this sum it is proposed to expend in Ireland?
§ MR. A. MORLEYThe Post Office is now constructing between Dublin and Belfast a telephone line of sufficient gauge to enable Dublin to communicate not only with the North of Ireland, but with Scotland and England. In the present state of knowledge, an efficient telephone cable between Ireland and England cannot, I fear, be provided; but a cable has already been laid between Ireland and Scotland, and is available for the use of the public in Belfast and Glasgow; and, when the main line now being erected between Glasgow and London is completed, both Dublin and Belfast will be able to speak to Loudon. I regret I cannot answer the rest of the hon. Member's; question until the negotiations for the acquisition of the Trunk Lines of the National Telephone Company have been brought to a conclusion?