New mobile phones are to be issued to TDs and senators after problems developed with the models they were given free by the State last year.
Eircell won the contract to supply Oireachtas members with phones in November 1998. It subcontracted Motorola to supply 170 Startac 130 mobiles with car kits at a cost of £70,000.
However, within weeks, there were complaints from some TDs and senators that their car batteries were going flat. It emerged the problem was caused by incorrectly installed car kits. When that was solved, there were complaints to the Oireachtas telecommunications manager, Mr Charles Hearne, about the low battery life of the handsets.
Mr Hearne met Eircell and Motorola last week to discuss the problem and Motorola agreed to upgrade all the mobiles, at no cost, for the new Timeport L7809, which boasts voice-activated dialing, a facility to record voice memos, 150 hours stand-by time, and triband, which means the phones can be used in America.
The mobile also has an infa-red facility which will allow TDs to receive e-mail and faxes as they rush around their constituencies.
A spokeswoman for Motorola confirmed it would be upgrading the existing mobile models and car kits in the next month, but said the company had planned to do this anyway later this year.
"There were some problems with some car kits which were sorted out and there were complaints about low batteries in the handsets," the spokeswoman confirmed. She said the problem with the batteries in the handsets might have been caused by the users, and stressed this was not necessarily a fault of the mobile.