Councillors in ‘information vacuum’ after Storm Éowyn
Belmullet-based Councillor Gerry Coyle complained about the phone service.
The chief executive of Mayo County Council has agreed to look into the mobile phone system on offer to local councillors after a number expressed dissatisfaction with how it operates.
Several councillors complained that they do not know where a call is coming from as there is no caller ID available on the system. They also noted that during the recent Storm Éowyn, they were "left in an information vacuum" after getting no emergency contact details for the various council departments.
Cllr Gerry Coyle said the problem was that no caller ID was flagged in calls, with Cllr Michael Kilcoyne adding: “If you get a phonecall it is just the council phone number that comes up and if you miss the call unless a person is good enough to leave a message. You don’t know is it the Chief Executive ringing to say you are in trouble or whether it’s the local engineer that will get the pothole sorted tomorrow.”
Chief executive Kevin Kelly agreed to update an emergency contacts directory for councillors so that they know who to contact in the event of emergencies. He also said he will look into the issue of no caller ID on the system.
“I hear what you are saying in regard to the telephone difficulties cited and the numbers and we will look at how that can be addressed.
“Two years ago, we did circulate a directory of all staff contacts to members and we will update that and send it out so you have the key people to contact with your queries.”
On dealing with members' queries, the chief executive revealed that management is considering putting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in place that would open up the opportunity to handle all member queries in one place. However, he advised that should this be agreed upon, it would mean that members would have to sign up to the system, every query would be logged and access to all the query information would be on the system as a public record. Further details will be provided at a later date.
“We are trying to provide the best service to members that we can," concluded Mr Kelly.
