Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Recently I attended a meeting in Kerry along with a number of people from small and medium enterprises. I was surprised that they were very concerned about the cost of telephone directory inquiries but having checked out the matter I realised that they were right to be concerned. Before the meeting such costs had not occurred to me. Now I know that when one telephones directory inquiries from a landline and ask to be put through to a number of a supplier or potential customer, the chances are one will finish up paying €7 or €8. That is a lot of money for the service.Telephone bills are dear enough without paying for the privilege of ascertaining the number before one telephones.

The major telephone companies should examine this issue. I ask the acting Leader to take up the matter with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White. The sum of €8 may not appear to be a large amount but if one has recourse to direct inquiries on a regular basis - as I and I am sure other Members have been - it adds up. One is hostage to fortune because one has no choice. One cannot lug all the local directories around. One telephone directory is supplied free of charge to people in their own telephone area, of which there are 20 or 30 in the country. As one has to depend on directory inquiries, that is an issue that should be looked at.

There was a big song and dance here in the past couple of weeks when the Government announced an additional 600 teaching jobs. Many young teachers hoping to leave training colleges and young teachers who are lucky to be working as substitutes were delighted at the prospect of having jobs to apply for, yet when they read the small print they discovered they were not full-time teaching positions but part-time jobs involving hours on offer and top-up hours in certain schools. There was much disappointment about that. I seek clarification from the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, as to how many actual full-time teaching jobs had been created in a sector where jobs are badly needed, given that we have more qualified teachers than we have jobs for them.