An estimated 2.7 million hoax or accidental calls are made to emergency services operators each year, and the problem is being fuelled by the rise in mobile phone ownership, Eircom has warned.
Just one in four calls received by the emergency operator service is made to report a genuine crisis. Research by Eircom found that 40 per cent of 999 or 112 emergency calls were made from mobile phones and that three in every four of these were either hoaxes or dialled accidentally.
The growth in mobile phone use is also being blamed for the problem of "ghost" calls - where there is no voice on the line when the emergency operator answers the call.
Eircom's press officer, Ms Pauline Madigan, said it believed many of these calls were a result of mobile phone users erroneously phoning the 112 emergency number when trying to dial 121 to access their voice mail facility.
Eircom also suspects that many "ghost" calls were also made when the phone buttons were inadvertently pushed on mobiles left in bags or pockets. "We are pleading with customers to use the locking system on their phones when they are storing them in bags or coats," Ms Madigan said.
The appeal follows Eircom's analysis of the 300,000 emergency operator calls received last month. The company estimates there are 3.6 million such calls annually.
The problem of "ghost" calls is also evident in Britain, where the emergency authorities estimate 12,500 accidental calls were made in June in London from mobile phones.
The number of accidental and hoax calls is adding to the pressure on the emergency service, which deals with urgent calls for the Garda, fire brigade, ambulances, lifeboats and mountain and cave rescue services.
However, these false calls did not currently pose a danger to the emergency operator system, Ms Madigan said. These calls were factored in to the service, which Eircom operates with a team of 75 fully trained staff.
The phone company thinks children are among the main hoax callers, as the number of false calls rises during school holidays.
The 2.7 million calls classified as hoax or erroneous also include calls which are not for emergencies. "We have people caught in traffic who ring the emergency operator to try and find out if there is an accident causing the traffic jam ahead," Ms Madigan said.
The British authorities have also noted an increase in the number of multiple calls from members of the public reporting accidents or emergencies. This is also being linked to the greater availability of mobile phones.