Telecoms firm told Council not to concern itself with health and safety issues

Planning permission has been granted for new mobile phone antennae at the ESB substation in Rahoon – ESB Telecoms had urged Galway City Council not to concern itself with health and safety fears of local residents relating to its plans.
The company, which is a subsidiary of the electricity supplier, said the ‘upgrade’ is required in order to boost 4G coverage in the area for its customers – Vodafone and Eir Mobile.
It told the City Council that it “regards the protection of the health, safety and welfare of its staff and the general public as a core company value in all its activities”.
It added that the Council need only concern itself with planning issues relating to the proposal and to leave health and safety issues to ComReg, the Commission for Communications Regulation.
ESB Telecoms had sought permission to add a new platform to its ‘Five Lamps’ structure at the junction of Rahoon Road and Seamus Quirke Road, which would accommodate new antennae and dishes.
According to the company, the importance of its existing site “cannot be over emphasised” as it forms “an integral part” of ESB’s network, and that of its customers, which are Vodafone Ireland and Eir Mobile.
“For both operators, the quality of coverage, particularly 4G coverage, can be seen to fail noticeably in comparison to 2G and 3G, and this quality falls away the further the distance from the structure.
“With many developments of this nature, there may be concerns from residents about the perceived implications of the development, primarily in relation to the adverse health effects of the installation. It is ESB Telecoms’ policy to continually review and update standards in light of new developments and research findings.
“Planning authorities are urged to concern themselves with design and siting issues only and should defer any health and safety issues and their monitoring to the relevant authorities, in this instance, ComReg,” the company said in its planning application.
It added that it regularly carries out tests at its site – the last tests were in June 2019 and November 2017 – and the results were “well within the safety standards”.
There were no objections or submissions from members of the public.
In its assessment of the application, the Council referred to Government guidelines which stated that planning authorities should be primarily concerned with the appropriate location and design of telecoms structures “and do not have competence for health and safety matters in respect of telecoms infrastructure”.
The guidelines spread: “These are regulated by other codes and such matters should not be additionally regulated by the planning process,” adding that monitoring arrangements were not a matter for the Council either.
The Council said the mast had already been in place for almost 20 years, and the additional antenna would in in accordance with the setting.
Permission was approved for the extension to the mast, with a condition attached that ESB Telecom allow, subject to reasonable terms, other licensed mobile telecoms operators to co-locate their antennae onto the mast “in order to avoid the proliferation of telecoms structures”.