Madam, - The Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, was quite right to criticise local authorities for using automated phone-answering systems.
Unfortunately, this diabolical practice is by no means confined to local authorities. Recently I rang the US embassy to make a routine enquiry about my passport. After 15 minutes listening, inter alia, to detailed instructions about how to apply for a visa, I hung up without ever making contact with a human being. I then rang the Passport Office but, before my query was dealt with, I had to endure another 15 minutes of nondescript music interrupted at regular intervals by a voice telling me my call would be answered "shortly". A call to the ESB to report a power cut failed to make any contact with a human being. This practice, presumably, saves money for the organisations involved.
The public, on the other hand, must bear the cost of prolonged phone calls and the damage to human health caused by increased levels of frustration.
- Yours, etc.,
M. D. KENNEDY (Mr),
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.