Ireland’s awareness of the EU wide emergency telephone number is among the lowest in Europe according to a new survey published today.
The European barometer survey found that only 16 per cent of Irish citizens know they can dial 112 in an emergency in any member state, compared to 54 per cent of Bulgarian citizens.
The survey also found that European citizens experiences language-related problems when calling the number from outside their home country.
Almost one in five respondents said they had language-related problems when communicating with the emergency services while visiting another EU country.
"It is unacceptable that less than a quarter of citizens are aware of 112, or that language barriers prevent travellers calling 112 from communicating with the emergency operator," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
The EU must work to guarantee the safety of our 500 million citizens with the same intensity as we have worked to guarantee their ability to travel freely across the borders of 27 countries, he added.
Labour Party Senator, Alan Kelly, called on the government to launch an information campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of the number, saying "I believe this is a very useful service for Irish people travelling throughout the EU either on holidays or on business, particularly as 19 continental countries can now handle calls to 112 in English".
The Government should replicate what is being done in other European countries and undertake a major public information campaign involving TV broadcasts and SMS texts to roaming mobile users, he added.
February 11th has been declared “European 112 Day” in an attempt spread the word about 112 and push national authorities to make the EU’s single emergency number more multilingual.