TD: Elderly people still left with 'no access to landline' after storms
Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Keira Keogh has claimed that elderly people in her constituency still have no access to their landline after Storm Éowyn and Storm Darragh.
Deputy Keogh told Agriland that she is now "at the point of desperation given the upset people were feeling".
The TD believes the issue is not getting a lot of "national attention", because it involves "a lot of elderly people" who still use the copper lines that landlines require.
She has highlighted that one of the key concerns is that these landlines are in some cases linked to panic alarms.
Keogh told Agriland about an elderly lady in her seventies in Co. Mayo who has a landline with Eir.
She said: "I have a lady, with no mobile or wifi, she is without her phoneline since Storm Darragh. She was receiving bills for €62.50 each month, then got a notification that there was going to be a price hike.
"When she came to me, I explained to her, they don’t automatically know your line is out, you have to self report, as I said, she doesn’t have a mobile phone herself. If you look at the age friendly phoneline to report that, it’s open Monday – Friday, 10:00am - 4:00pm.
"Most people are working midweek. The people making the call on behalf of people, aren’t available at those times".
Agriland contacted Eir for comment in relation to this issue.
In a statement the company said: "The resolution of service issues for elderly or vulnerable customers is a priority for Eir.
"There are no widespread outages to report in the region — any current service issues are individual faults.
"While the vast majority of customers were reconnected quickly after the storm, work is ongoing in areas where damage was particularly severe, often involving extensive repairs such as re-cabling and re-poling over hundreds of meters".
The company, which provides fixed line telecommunications services and mobile services, added: "Unlike electricity, each telecoms fault must be addressed individually, requiring a site visit for every case. As mentioned, we are prioritising older or vulnerable customers".
It also said that in order to investigate a specific fault and provide more context it requires details of a property's eircode so its team can locate the property and assess the issue.
Deputy Keogh has also acknowledged "the fact that there are great people on the ground doing great work" in relation to ongoing landline problems.
She said: "I know it’s very complex because they don’t have rights to go on private property, and they have to collaborate with gardaí and local authorities to get roads closed, which is different to the ESB.
"At the same time, we’re on day 75 now. I’m at the point where I’m really frustrated, people are at their wits end."
The Fine Gael TD is calling for a "coordinated approach" to storms across all departments in winter 2025.
"There is a review in place, and a report due before the summer. I am feeding into that.
"If you look at the amount of damage with trees and hedges at the moment, there’s a big delay for trees and hedges that needs to be done.
"The time where you’re allowed to cut has passed. In the small window that we had after the storm, people might not have had the budget to get trees cleared. Looking at some derogation might need to be looked at. I won’t be dropping it," she warned.
