Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and wish him the very best in his new role. He will bring great energy and ambition to it, and will achieve great things.

It is fair to say we have heard a very informed and well-rounded debate on the issue of crime. The overwhelming view right across the political divide is that the solution to crime is not one-dimensional but multifaceted. While the Department of Justice has to ultimately do the heavy lifting, there are many other components to this, including social services intervention, community work, housing, poverty and deprivation. All those things needs to be looked at in the round.One of the things we probably do not mention enough regarding crime and that has really come to the fore in recent weeks is corporate responsibility. We have seen a huge failing in this regard over recent weeks in the aftermath of the storm of 24 January. Across the country, there are still 3,500 people without phone coverage and broadband. Many of these people are in the midlands, north west and west and many are elderly and live in isolated communities. They are denied access to their panic alarms now because they do not have phone access.

I have been contacted by three elderly people living in the Ballinalee area, all in their 90s, who have been without full coverage since the storm and who have been told it could be two weeks before their phone coverage is returned. They are feeling isolated. They are not sleeping and are worrying, and they are suffering from the consequences of what is nothing short of absolute corporate greed. It is a huge failing on the part of the responsible companies, predominantly Eir, which provides the network and the cables across the country that service the phones. I am aware that many other phone operators depend on Eir, but ultimately the responsibility rests with it. What it is doing to the affected communities is nothing short of reprehensible. There are elderly people who cannot sleep at night and who feel isolated. They turn on the local radio for updates. I have listened to Shannonside FM for the past few mornings and noted that people are consistently ringing in on behalf of elderly parents and grandparents, irate that their phones have not been reconnected five weeks after the storm.

In Lanesborough, where I am from, there is a woman in her 80s living on a very isolated road whose phone is still not working. I believe her house is the only one on the road. Her daughter was told that it will be another three weeks before she has her phone line back. It is unforgivable that a corporate company that makes millions in this country can be allowed to continue like this and not provide the service. The most galling and telling aspect was that the three elderly residents in Ballinalee got a dispatch from the phone company today not offering an apology or stating it would be around next week to fix the phones but telling them their monthly bills were due – bills for a service they have not had for the past four weeks.

This company is failing us. Elderly people depend on panic alarms, which are their connection with the outside world. I appeal to the Minister of State to call out Eir and the phone companies on this and ask them without delay to rectify the situation. The affected people are elderly and are not able to resort to social media or post on Instagram or Facebook to criticise the companies. Invariably, these are the people in their 90s who did the heavy lifting, built this country and provided the building blocks for one of the most progressive, modern countries in Europe, which we now have. We have a country of untold wealth thanks to the efforts and toil of these people. We are now failing them as legislators and as a society. Ultimately, I am most aggrieved over how they are being treated by Eir and the phone companies. I ask the Minister of State to comment on this personally, make a strong statement and let Eir know we are deeply unhappy with its position on this and that how it is treating the elderly people is unforgivable.