Eir faces 22 sets of legal claims on 2018 breach

Telecoms firm Eir says it faces 22 “sets” of legal actions in the circuit court and may face further claims under the General Data Protection Regulation law following two data breaches in recent times.

Last year, the company lost a laptop outside one of its offices which had the names and personal details of 37,000 customers.

The telecoms firm also showed in its annual bondholders’ report it has ongoing legal claims from 116 current and former staff over loss-of-hearing; it faces claims from 107 former or current staff on exposure to asbestos; while it expects its case against ComReg and the costs of its universal service obligation to be heard around next spring.

The French telecoms firm belonging to billionaire Xavier Niel last year took a majority stake in the firm which has gross debts of over €2.6bn. Eir reiterated a €150m plan to extend 4G coverage and to introduce 5G in “selected urban areas”.

Costcutting helped earnings rise 10% to €578m in the year to the end of June even as revenues fell 2% to below €1.25bn.

Staff numbers nonetheless rose to over 3,500. On the 2018 data breach, it said:

“Due to significant potential fines, a breach of these regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.”