Mr. J. Enoch Powellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number of persons per 1,000 population, aged 60 years and over, who were assisted with the installation or rental of a telephone in each of the board areas in 1978–79.
§ Mr. AlisonThis information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the numbers of households known to contain one or more persons aged 65 years or over which were assisted with the installation or rental of a telephone in each health and social services board area in
620Woutcome of requests for additional information before a decision could be given. It is not possible to state at this stage when the backlog of claims will be cleared, but extra staff have recently been trained and the situation is being kept under review.