Following harsh criticism of its lack of an emergency call system during last year's water crisis, Galway City Council has put in place an emergency call management system.

Previously, outside of normal business hours, members of the public had to dial 999 for emergencies falling under the council's jurisdiction. However, a dedicated staff member will now answer the city council's phone number out of office hours to ensure that emergencies are dealt with.

Councillor Michael Crowe welcomed the development.

"Under the old system, outside of normal business hours, the public had to dial 999, which was, in my opinion, a bit of a daft way of dealing with calls, and putting unnecessary added pressure on Emergency Services. Under this new system the city council's telephone number 091-536400 will now be answered by a dedicated person outside of office hours. The service will cover the time between close of normal business at 5pm and 9am each day together with weekends and holiday periods," he explained.

All calls received will be logged as they are received from the public and the person answering will determine whether it is an emergency and will contact the relevant employee. If the matter is not classed as an emergency, it will be dealt with the following day

"Any person who contacts City Hall outside of normal office hours can now be assured that their call will be answered and dealt with accordingly. I have looked for this service for sometime now and believe it will be of great benefit to people in the city who need to contact the council after hours. I am delighted the service is now up and running," concluded Cllr Crowe.

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