The cost of a telephone alarm link between a business and a local Garda station could rise by 620 per cent this year, Fianna Fail's spokeswoman on Enterprise and Employment, Ms Mary O'Rourke, claimed yesterday. This was a consequence of government approval for increases in Telecom Eireann's leased line fees, she said.

Ms O'Rourke described the scale of the alarm circuit increases as outlandish and unacceptable.