Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Section 6, which amends section 13 of the principal Act, sees provisions made giving power to the Minister to obtain information from ComReg and allowing ComReg to obtain information to carry out a ministerial undertaking. This could prevent the kind of debacle seen in the case of Smart Telecom.

It is important, in the light of recent allegations of widespread collusion among mobile operators, to keep mobile roaming and termination data hidden and that information-obtaining powers are effectively used by this Minister. I hope all of the information on termination charges will be open to invigilation by the Department and ComReg because last week, at a committee hearing on this matter, it was clear the Department was not aware of roaming charges and termination rates.

The European consumers' organisation, Beuc, and the French consumer group, Union Fédérale des Consommateurs, UFC, — Que Choisir released a damning report on the roaming charges that are levied by mobile operators. They spoke of organised collusion on a massive scale throughout Europe and this is a matter that this Bill might begin to address.

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