Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
General Scheme of the Communications Regulation (Enforcement) Bill: Discussion
Mr. Robert Mourik:
I will defer to Mr. Blaney later to add to my response. What currently happens with a compliance case is that there are a number of stages. First, ComReg will investigate a particular matter where we think there is an issue, or perhaps if somebody has told us that there is an issue. We open an investigation. The investigatory team will form a preliminary view of whether there has been a regulatory breach or not. It will either dismiss the case or bring the matter to the commissioners' attention. If the team recommends the finding of a breach and a penalty, according to the new legislation as it is described here, the case will be referred to an adjudication panel. That adjudication panel will then consider all the evidence and the recommendations and decide whether a penalty should be imposed. In this case, the adjudication panel will be ruling on behalf of ComReg, so it is basically a case of ComReg ruling, for example, that there has been a breach and imposing a fine. Before that penalty becomes final-----
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