Mr. Robert Mourik:

On behalf of ComReg, we are happy to appear before the committee to discuss the general scheme of the communications regulation (enforcement) Bill. I am joined by my fellow ComReg commissioner, Garrett Blaney, and by my colleagues, Ms Barbara Delaney, director of retail and consumer services, and Ms Caroline Dee-Brown, ComReg's general counsel.

ComReg is the national regulatory authority for electronic and postal communications. We promote competition and investment in the sector. We uphold end-user rights and manage the radio spectrum. As the pandemic clearly proved, electronic communications are a vital input in almost every economic activity across all sectors of the Irish economy. For individual consumers, access to high-quality connectivity is increasingly seen as essential, as it enables access to an increasingly wide range of services that are important for social and economic inclusion. As the national regulatory authority for electronic communications, ComReg has among its principal functions both ensuring compliance by undertakings with obligations in relation to the supply of and access to electronic communications networks and services, and ensuring compliance with the competition law regime in the electronic communications sector.

Many of ComReg’s activities are grounded in European legislation. The European electronic communications code from December 2018 introduces an enhanced regime for the regulation of electronic communications across the EU and repeals and replaces the 2002 regime. The electronic communications sector had seen rapid development in the years since the previous European regulatory framework was established and ensuring the code is properly transposed and the new regulatory framework in Ireland is fit for purpose is critical.

We understand that primary legislation is needed to give full effect to key aspects of the code and, thus, ComReg is happy to see the communications regulation (enforcement) Bill being discussed today. It should significantly enhance our enforcement powers and introduce a range of new consumer protection measures. Of course, the details of the Bill are important to ensure the desired outcomes for competition and consumers are achieved. The importance of effective legislation to enable ComReg to carry out its core functions has been widely recognised, including by the Department, as we just heard, but also by the OECD, the European Commission, industry representative associations such as Alternative Operators in the Irish Market, ALTO, and the Law Reform Commission. It is even mentioned in the programme for Government.

A key component of such legislation comprises effective, usable and robust enforcement provisions. ComReg welcomes the Bill on this front. We would like to see legislation introduced that will be not only robust to legal challenge but usable in practice and therefore genuinely effective. In this regard, ComReg notes that two other significant pieces of legislation that contain enhanced enforcement powers for regulators in other areas have recently been published, namely, the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 and the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022. ComReg notes that there are significant differences in the approaches of the Bills to certain aspects of enforcement. To be effective and efficient, ComReg favours what appears to be the less prescriptive, less cumbersome and more easily workable regime found in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill.

It is important to take into consideration the size and structure of ComReg and its current decision-making processes, which the general scheme of the Bill considers have worked well to date, when designing the best enforcement legislation. ComReg welcomes the proposed upper limit for financial sanctions on a body corporate at €5 million or 10% of annual turnover as proportionate, effective and dissuasive in the context of the electronic communications sector in Ireland, which as members know includes some of the largest utility operators in the State. However, the deterrent effect of financial sanctions only works if they can be applied by means of enforcement mechanisms that are timely, efficient, and legally robust. Strong deterrents are an important tool for ComReg to ensure industry complies with its regulatory obligations. This will achieve the desired results for competition and consumer protection.

The general scheme proposes improvements to our regulatory investigation powers, and we welcome these as they will improve our enforcement capabilities. ComReg also welcomes the introduction of the security provisions which have become ever more important as Irish society relies increasingly on secure networks. ComReg requires robust enforcement powers to be effective in managing its security and integrity remit for the sector and as a key input to the NCSC. Noting ComReg’s last appearance before this committee, ComReg welcomes the inclusion of a substantial number of new consumer protection measures in this Bill, including a customer charter, minimum quality of service standards, a new compensation scheme that will entitle consumers to compensation for failings by operators, and an enhanced alternative dispute resolution mechanism for consumers. On the basis of this scheme, Irish consumers of telecoms services should enjoy better protection and more choice going forward.