Updated 11.00

Eircom says it will work with customers affected by a payments error, which has caused 30,000 customers to face backdated bills of up to €500.

A direct debit error failed to collect payments for several months, in some cases as far back as October, meaning customers could be five months in arrears.

The telecoms giant says those affected will see the full amount owed in their next bill.

Eircom's Director of Corporate Affairs Paul Bradley told Newstalk's Pat Kenny show they will work with customers who are unable to make the payment in one go:

This is the latest in a series of incidents where consumers have faced difficulties with accounts from various businesses.

Personal Finance Editor with the Irish Independent Charlie Weston told Pat it can be infuriating for customers:

The updated bills could amount to between €300 and €500 per individual customer.

The phone and internet company is blaming the introduction of the Sepa payments system. It says it doesn't know exactly what went wrong but the problem has been rectified.

The Chairman of the Consumers Association of Ireland, Michael Kilcoyne, told the Irish Independent it's "a bit rich of Eircom" to expect people to pay out large sums within the next month or so. He's called on them to credit half the amount owed to customers' bills.