Four months on from Storm Éowyn there's still phone lines in County Roscommon not restored
Since Storm Éowyn struck on January 24, Eir has restored phone lines to over 174,000 homes and businesses. However, some premises have experienced months-long delays in having their phone and broadband services restored – including a rural school in County Mayo which had no landline for 116 days.
The issue was raised in the Dáil by Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice, who has called on the communications regulator to take action against Eir over the delays in restoring phone lines in his constituency.
Deputy Fitzmaurice said that Eir 'should be ashamed' of how they have treated customers in Cloonfad, Ballymoe and 'a number of other areas' who are still without a landline phone service.
Lamenting Eir's response to the storm, Deputy Fitzmaurice said local people in the village of Creggs had to tie a ratchet strap and ropes to secure a broken telephone line that is still 'thrown aside' four months after Storm Éowyn.
'Areas like Cloonfad, Ballymoe and a number of other areas are left devastated and without phone lines. It is not about the phone line because in some cases they have gone back and repaired the broadband, but the phone line is a lifeline to the elderly people for when you need your panic button,' he said.
Deputy Fitzmaurice also called on the ComReg to start 'taking the finger out to the likes of Eir'.
Replying, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that Eir had informed ComReg, that 'all storm-related repairs for the remaining affected customers' will be completed by 3 June.
This, he said, excludes eleven cases where there is a third-party constraint, such as access rights, which are 'outside of Eir's control'.
'ComReg will monitor the restoration work until it is completed,' said Minister Harris.
Echoing Deputy Fitzmaurice's concerns, the Tánaiste remarked: 'I do not want to say anything that cuts across the regulator, but Eir really needs to step up in how it deals with customers. I have heard this in countless locations.'
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ComReg is currently reviewing the performance of operators regarding service restoration in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.
Last week Minister for Communications, Patrick O'Donavan, and Minister for Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary, convened a meeting of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Task Force.
According to the Tánaiste, this meeting was attended by all mobile and fixed-network operators affected by Storm Éowyn, ComReg, and representatives of local authorities and ESB Networks.
'Knowing the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, we can be particularly sure that he expressed his frustration at the meeting regarding Eir's inability to restore services to all customers nearly 18 weeks later. It is farcical,' Mr Harris commented.
The Tánaiste said Mr O'Donavan had held meetings with individual operators, including Vodafone, to address network resilience concerns. The minister is due to meet the CEO and owner of Eir shortly.
Deputy Fitzmaurice said he would be amazed if all phone services are restored by June 3, which falls after the Bank Holiday weekend.
He told the Irish Independent that no work had taken place on the poll near Creggs – which is still being held together with ratchet straps and ropes - since he raised the matter in the Dáil.
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