Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Parts of Connemara had serious telecommunications issues in November, with certain areas without a phone signal for up to three weeks. Now, again, these exact same people are facing the exact same issues. Many have been told they will not get connectivity for another six weeks despite us running into the third week of the storm's aftermath. Some are being told by their private providers that they have absolutely no update for them. For those people who have never been impacted by this, it might not appear as serious an issue as it actually is. One woman who contacted me has a heart condition and needs to monitor and report to the hospital every single night. Without broadband, she is not able to do that and that could cause her really serious issues. Where is the prioritisation for our vulnerable customers? Where is the database for our vulnerable customers and what is being done about that?

The Minister claimed the needs of the most vulnerable were prioritised. They clearly have not been prioritised if there is a woman in that situation. They were not prioritised either for a woman I met on Saturday who spent 13 days without electricity and relies on an oxygen machine. Where is the prioritisation there?

The lack of broadband services also impacts on the services the post office can provide, particularly with regard to the banking services post offices usually provide. That means people cannot lodge money to meet their direct debits or mortgage payments. This banking service is a great service for people, particularly in more rural areas. What is being done to rectify that? There is also an issue regarding withdrawals and access to cash. These are older people who rely on access to cash and they just do not have it.

Businesses in rural areas, as the Minister will know, are far more than simply businesses. They provide a service that often the State does not provide and they also have a community aspect to them. A lot of them operated as hubs during this crisis, even though they did not have the official title of a "hub", with locals coming to them, especially when they did not have a phone service, just to find out what was going on. In the case of one of the businesses that contacted me, staff travelled across the country, to Kildare, to access a generator because the business is in a very rural area and without that business operating, there would be nothing in the village. Without broadband, the business was not able to use its pumps for petrol and diesel. If it cannot provide its services without broadband, people who have to travel a significant distance cannot access petrol and diesel. What in the name of God are they supposed to do? The businesses have said they fully understand that the initial need has to be with families but they are surprised at this stage that they have heard nothing. One small business told me it had lost €18,000, while another told me it had lost €15,000, yet they have not heard a whisper from Government as to what supports are available. I ask the Minister to speak to that.

With regard to public safety, across Connemara we still have telecommunications poles that are hanging and broken in half, trees that are holding up poles and loose cabling on the ground, which simply is not safe. In some places, this has been the case since Storm Darragh. We need to do better and people expect us to do better.

I will comment on one of the remarks the Minister made. He said it had been claimed that there was a lack of a co-ordinated plan for dealing with Storm Éowyn and that he wished to put on the record that this was not the case. Simply putting something on the record does not mean it was not the case. We had areas that could not access 999 emergency calls for over a week. We need to get to the bottom of that and make sure we can deal with it so that it does not happen again.

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