Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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91. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is aware of a recent paper stating that the emergency call answering service has performed to a consistently high standard, with the average speed of answer for a caller being 0.6 seconds, which is one of the fastest in Europe; and that the workers have concerns regarding conditions and cover for this vital service. [31881/15]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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My question relates to the emergency call answering service, particularly the professionalism and performance of the operators. The workers have concerns about the conditions and cover for the service, so I ask if the Minister of State is aware of these concerns.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of these concerns and I have received documentation from individuals. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I fully appreciate the fact that the emergency call answering service, ECAS, has been operating to an extremely high standard, with the dedication of the operators and the quality of the service they provide being a major contributor to this. The ECAS operators handle calls effectively and efficiently, often in response to stressful and distressing situations for citizens. The service answers more than 2 million calls annually and has one of the fastest emergency call answering times in Europe.

BT Ireland has operated ECAS on behalf of my Department under a concession agreement since July 2010 and is responsible for the conditions and resourcing of the service. BT Ireland employs a third party contractor, Conduit Ireland Limited, to provide operators to answer calls. Operators at ECAS call answering centres in Navan, Ballyshannon and Dublin process emergency calls and forward these to the appropriate emergency service as quickly and effectively as possible. BT Ireland uses an industry standard model to determine the number of operators required across each centre. It forecasts the number of operators required to meet the necessary operational requirements on a monthly basis and notifies Conduit six weeks in advance. BT Ireland has a health and safety policy of having a minimum of two operators on each site at any one time. This facilitates appropriate breaks, ensures the work environment is safe and allows operators time to recover if they have taken especially stressful calls. In addition, BT line managers directly answer calls if required.

The number and cost of operators is assessed annually by the Commission for Communications Regulation as part of its annual review of the cost of the ECAS service. An expert report commissioned by ComReg is appended to this review. The latest expert report was appended to a decision on costs by ComReg published in January 2015. The expert report states that ECAS "is run effectively against the service targets and quality requirements and overall is approaching 'leading practice' from a performance perspective". Furthermore, ComReg's review concluded that an increase to the operator’s hourly rate was reasonable and notified BT Ireland accordingly. This is a matter now for BT and Conduit and I understand that discussions between the two companies are advanced, with a view to addressing ComReg's findings. I hope, therefore, that the matter can be dealt with quickly, given the important service that ECAS operators provide.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. I also acknowledge the professionalism and efficiency of the emergency call answering service. It operates 24-7 all year round, engaging with services and, occasionally, the Coast Guard. It is absolutely vital. However, there is a high turnover of staff at one centre, at East Point in Dublin. This high turnover of staff means there is a loss of very valuable skills and expertise, and the Minister of State may ask why this is so.

The Communication Workers' Union did a survey and found 100% dissatisfaction with the rate of pay. In the ComReg review, it was indicated that the hourly rate should increase. We know the work is essential to the safety of the public and yet the employer continues to ignore legitimate concerns from the workers. The Minister of State indicated that he hoped this is a matter for BT and Conduit and that the companies will engage, but this is a public contract awarded by the Department responsible for communications. The workers want to be treated with dignity and respect and they want the right to be recognised by a trade union. In other words, they want the right to collective bargaining. That was also supported overwhelmingly in the survey. I ask the Minister to use his influence to ensure the company respects the workers' basic right to collective bargaining, as that is where these issues can be addressed.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy again for raising this important issue. In the correspondence I have seen, as the Deputy has correctly alluded to, people use the two words, "dignity" and "respect". I am hopeful that the ongoing conversation between Conduit and BT Ireland will lead to a conclusion to this that will be favourable. I am not in a position to say whether this will happen or what will be the outcome, but I am hopeful that when people are talking and engaged in the matter, we will get an outcome that can be accepted by the workers.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Unfortunately, the employer has been ignoring all requests from the Communication Workers' Union to meet. I know the workers who handle the calls to the ambulance and fire service are members of SIPTU but the emergency call answer personnel are being denied this right. ComReg also indicated that because of the critical nature of an emergency call, the system cannot be run like a fully commercialised call centre. I am not too sure if that has been taken into account.

One other aspect concerns staff cover, which affects annual leave. I know some workers were finding it difficult to get annual leave to which they are entitled because of the cover aspect. I do not share the Minister of State's confidence that the companies will deal with these matters in a fair way that respects workers' rights. If that does not happen, will the Minister then use his influence to ensure the companies - the employer - will respect worker rights, and especially the right to join and engage with a trade union?

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I am in danger of repeating myself. I am clearly not involved in negotiations or conversations between BT Ireland and Conduit but I am led to believe that conversations are ongoing. I am hopeful there will be a successful outcome. The Deputy asked if the Minister can intervene if that is not the case. At this stage we must focus on a successful outcome, which is important from the workers' perspective. It is also important because we are talking about a stressful environment and these people are at the coalface. They receive phone calls that can be very stressful from time to time. It is important we highlight this. The Deputy has raised this issue publicly and I encourage BT Ireland and Conduit to take the issue seriously. I have no doubt they are doing so. I hope we can have a favourable outcome for the workers.