Time to tackle nuisance calls

The members of Cavan County Council will again write to ComReg, and also to the Minister for Communications, demanding that urgent action is taken to put a stop to nuisance calls affecting phone owners.

At their December monthly meeting, Fianna Fáil’s Sean Smith, addressing attendees remotely, acknowledged a response received to an earlier query from the local authority by the Commission for Communications Regulation.

However, despite the contents of the letter, Cllr Smith stated there was a still “lot to be done”.

“They’ve got a serious situation,” said the west Cavan representative, lamenting how dozens of elderly people have been caught out by scam texts or calls, some of whom have been duped into sharing critical financial and personal information.

Cllr Smith was supported by Cathaoirleach, Clifford Kelly (FF), who said it was a nuisance in particular for elderly people.

Fellow party member Patricia Walsh gave an account of a person who had been scammed, having received a phone call from someone purporting to be from the bank. They told the person that they needed a payment of €800 in order to free up €2,000 that had been “frozen”. The woman then withdrew the money from her bank and transferred the sum via the post office.

“It was her own fault,” said Ms Walsh, who called for heightened awareness within financial institutions too.

“I get two to three calls a week,” she further reported.

Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly and Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly also asked the Minister for Communications to intervene.

The motion to write to the Minister and ComReg again was seconded by John Paul Feeley (FF).