Laois power outages playing havoc with robotic milking machines

Farmers in Laois are being affected by repeat short electricity outages, affecting their robotic milking machines.

There are "regular intermittent power outages" happening in Ballyroan, Cloncullane and Dooary, according to a Laois councillor.

Cllr Barry Walsh describes the problem.

"A lot of farms in the area have robots and high end equipment. A lot of businessespower is going regularly for five to ten seconds. It is causing a big issue to the equipment settings. It's happening regularly. It needs to be addressed," he said.

He tabled a motion to the June meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, asking Laois County Council to contact the ESB. It was seconded by Cllr John Joe Fennelly.

"It's causing damage. It's hard enough to make a business work. I hope the ESB will come out and engage. I have some ideas where the issues might be," Cllr Walsh said.

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The Cathaoirleach Cllr Paddy Buggy agreed.

"There is an issue with getting technicians to reprogram the robotic milking machines. It's a nightmare," he said.