Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The Beuc study reports that Vodafone Ireland and O2 have been able to steer traffic from the Vodafone group and the O2 group — 88% and 77% respectively — towards their networks. Although roaming Vodafone and O2 clients make use of the same group network and tariffs as would apply in the home market, Beuc reports that Vodafone Ireland charges the same tariffs as O2 and Meteor for incoming calls. O2 charges the same rates for incoming and outgoing calls as Vodafone and Meteor. These are matters that this new legislation should address and I am hopeful that information on termination rates will at last be available.

I welcome Part 6 of this Bill which deals with the establishment of a new emergency call answering service, ECAS. Last February I received a number of complaints about the prospective transfer of the 999 service from Dublin to Ballyshannon as Eircom was apparently no longer willing to continue running it due to the cost of its operation and ongoing losses in that sector of the company. Section 58B empowers the Minister to enter into the contract for the operation of the emergency call answering service. Have many operators shown an interest in running the 999 service? Is there not an argument for maintaining it as part of the universal service obligation?

One of the provisions that I greatly welcome is the measure relating to the .ie domain outlined in Part 4 of the Bill. Since the emergence of .ie Domain Registry Limited, IEDR, on the University College Dublin, UCD, campus in 2000 to administer the .ie domain system, there have been many problems and general industry dissatisfaction with the company's handling of billing issues, domain administration and the overall high costs of registering an Irish domain name.

Take-up on the .ie domain name was stagnating for a long time due to high prices and at the end of 2005 registering an .ie domain ran from between €60 and €120. This cost is around €70 for my own website while the .eu domain costs around €10 and .com €8 or less, depending on the company hosting the website.

Reports at the beginning of last year indicated that there are 138,000 limited companies and 254,000 registered business names but only 50,000 registered .ie domains. This makes it clear that many Irish businesses do not have a .ie domain and this legislation is, therefore, timely. Will the Minister consider whether it would be appropriate to address the cost of the ie. domain? I intend to table an amendment to this effect on Committee Stage.

Section 33 includes a provision to allow ComReg to impose a levy for overseeing the .ie domain. This cost may be passed on to customers and thereby push up the price of the ie. domain. The measures to empower ComReg to oversee the .ie domain are necessary to maintain price competitiveness.

On the invigilation of premium rate calls, I echo comments made by Deputy Durkan. While ComReg has responsibility for issuing the telephone number ranges — generally 1520 or 1580 numbers — for premium rate calls, it does not have a role in regulating the content, promotion or pricing information of these services. This is the function of another regulator, RegTel, a self-regulatory body financed by the premium rate services industry. In recent years, we have heard many stories of premium rate service operators engaging in questionable practices. For example, last year an investigation on the "Today with Pat Kenny" radio show illustrated the extent of the problem when the programme's reporter quickly ran up charges of €228 after calling some premium rate lines. My office regularly receives reports from people who believe they have been overcharged and ripped off as a result of the claims made about these services. Will the Minister place RegTel on a statutory footing, either as an independent body or as part of ComReg? I intend to table an amendment to this effect on Committee Stage.

While RegTel, within its limited remit, has instigated some excellent initiatives, the nature of the industry provides considerable scope for unscrupulous operators to exploit young and vulnerable people. Slightly more than a year ago the Director of Consumer Affairs, Carmel Foley, urged the Government to crack down on certain promotional activities in which the premium rate telephone line companies engage and examine the possibility of introducing legislation to curb the exorbitant rates they charge and the exploitative practices many of them use. I ask the Minister to address these matters.

The Bill is vital for the communications industry and for consumers. The Labour Party would have commended the Minister if he had introduced it much earlier. It is regrettable he has waited until the final 80 or 90 days of the Government's term to do so. I ask him to address the ten or 12 matters I have raised, on which I intend to introduce amendments on Committee Stage. It is not clear whether the enactment of the Bill will result in greater protection for consumers or fundamentally change the turgid regulatory structure and market failure that have characterised much of the telecoms sector over the past of five to seven years. Nevertheless, it is welcome.

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