Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 February 2025
69. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the fact that individuals in County Galway were unable to make emergency 999 calls during Storm Éowyn; if his Department will be investigating this to ensure people have access to emergency services during adverse weather events in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2631/25]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, Storm Éowyn caused an unprecedented level of damage to networks in Ireland. Storm Éowyn resulted in the widespread loss of power which in turn resulted in loss of some mobile phone services and fixed phone services, particularly in the West and North-West of the country. Fallen trees have also damaged many telecommunication lines. So, while the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) remained operational at all times during and after the storm, the loss of mobile and fixed line services meant that access to the service was not available for some customers.
A key focus for government, the National Emergency Coordination Group and all organisations involved is to find ways to support power restoration works that will make the most impact in terms of restoring water, communications and other services.
A significant number of outages experienced on the telecom networks were due to the lack of power to fixed and mobile infrastructure. While many key sites have battery backup to maintain service, once battery capacity was exhausted some network areas would have experienced outages. Deployment of generators maintained connectivity at core sites across the country.
During Storm Éowyn, ComReg engaged with mobile and fixed companies daily. My Department receives regular updates from ComReg about the numbers of affected mobiles and fixed line users, This data is provided to the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG).
The network operators will provide ComReg with reports about the overall impact that Storm Éowyn had on their respective networks.
A key focus for Government, the NECG and all organisations involved is to find ways to support power restoration works that will make the most impact in terms of restoring water, communications and other services.
