Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join colleagues on these amendments. There is a strong argument that if these structures are no longer being used as a telephone kiosk they are in breach of the original purpose for which planning was granted.

The idea that they would be repurposed into Wi-Fi hot spots or phone charging points, which is happening in a number of cases, is just a farce and undermines the reason they were allowed in the first place. They were allowed in the first place because a telephone box was seen as an essential service for people. Now the essential service is the revenue which comes from the advertising. I urge the Minister of State to look at this and come back to us on Report Stage because there is something we can do about this.