Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1060. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress that has been made in view of the impact of storm Éowyn regarding the reduction of severe weather impacts on critical infrastructure and essential services including the telecommunications networks; if he will outline the investment plans in place to strengthen such networks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47236/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1061. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment given the reference in the National Risk Assessment 2024 in relation to disruptions to the availability of critical infrastructure including the telecommunications networks due to the occurrence of extreme weather events, if he will outline the investment plans in place to strengthen such network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47272/25]

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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1092. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the engagements he has had with mobile phone operators since storm Éowyn this year to ensure that critical telecommunication infrastructure remains operational during and after damaging storms as many communities faced mobile phone coverage outages in the aftermath of storm Éowyn; to provide a list of operators he has met with and when he met them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46622/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1060, 1061 and 1092 together.

Telecommunication networks provide a key infrastructure underpinning our modern digital society and economy. As such, reducing the impact of service outages owing to the impacts of extreme weather events is a key area of focus for my Department.

In the aftermath of Storm Éowyn I have had significant engagement with both mobile and fixed network operators to understand the issues that led to network service outages and to ensure that my Department provides appropriate support to the sector to improve its resilience to future storms.

In mid-February, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, I convened a meeting with telecommunication network operators to begin a review of what went wrong and what needs to be done to ensure we do not experience the same kinds of services outages again. This meeting included representatives from the mobile network operators Eir, Three and Vodafone. A further sector-wide meeting was convened in May through the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to receive an update on progress on storm-related matters. I held further meetings individually with Vodafone, in May, and Eir, in June, at which storm-related issues were also addressed.

My Department also wrote to each of the network operators seeking detailed updates on how the storm impacted their networks and to seek an update on their plans to improve both the resilience of their networks and their service restoration responses. Each of the operators have furnished the Department with detailed responses.

Officials have been working with the telecommunications sector to support improvements in the sector’s ability to cope with severe weather impacts. Working with industry and the independent regulator, ComReg, a list of key mobile network sites is being developed for prioritisation of both preparatory and response resources. It is anticipated that this priority list will allow for more targeted allocation of both preparatory and response efforts by all stakeholders, including local authorities and other State entities. Ensuring that a priority base layer of communication can maintained, or quickly restored, in times of emergency is a key focus for my Department.

A review of information gathering and sharing protocols has also been undertaken to ensure that there is better and more timely access to service outage information in the event of another severe weather event. Clearer communication between all stakeholders, including the public, is required and I expect to see an enhanced system of information gathering and sharing in place this winter.

My Department is also establishing a new emergency preparedness and response framework for enhanced cooperation and communication between industry, Government and the regulator to ensure that the lessons learned in the aftermath of the storm are put into effect and that any issues identified can be worked on together. This framework will ensure that the telecommunications sector is able to respond to emergency situations in a more agile manner by allowing for better coordination between private network operators and the State.

The fixed and mobile networks are fully liberalised and privatised and operate in a competitive market. While network operators have indicated to my Department that they do plan to continue investing to strengthen the resilience of their networks to extreme weather events, the details of those investment plans are matters for those companies.