Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I will respond on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dempsey, and I thank Members for their contributions. I welcome the opportunity to comment on the various observations made on the provisions of this important Bill.

The Bill is necessary, as Deputies have said, to ensure that the independent regulator, ComReg, has the tools required to ensure that the electronic communications sector is open and competitive and that the individual and business consumer benefits from increased choice and lower prices for the services they need. As the Minister outlined in his opening statement, the Bill contains a number of provisions designed to achieve this objective. In this regard, the provisions for creating indictable offences with proportionate and dissuasive financial penalties and for competition law powers for ComReg are particularly important. I note the general support of the House for these provisions. Effective investigatory and enforcement powers are essential if ComReg is to carry out its function of ensuring compliance by all operators with their obligations under the regulatory framework.

Deputy Durkan said that the Bill's provisions are too little, too late, but it gives ComReg significantly enhanced enforcement and investigative powers. It provides for severe penalties for serious offences and no other regulator has the power that ComReg will have under this Bill.

The Minister agrees that investment in infrastructure is important, but investment decisions are primarily commercial ones made by the operators. Strong regulation of the market will provide operators with the certainty they require to underpin investment decisions and the Minister is satisfied that the Bill will provide this certainty.

Deputy Broughan generally welcomed the provisions of the Bill, such as those for higher penalties and competition law powers. The Deputy suggested a single regulator for the communications industry but given the complexity of communications and broadcasting issues, this could prove very difficult to achieve.

The Smart Telecom issue related to contract debt between private sector companies and while it was most regrettable, ComReg had no power to intervene in the matter. However, ComReg made great efforts to bring about a satisfactory outcome for the subscribers involved. The Minister has requested ComReg to examine how such a situation can be avoided in the future. ComReg now has a protocol in place to help protect consumers should a similar situation arise in the future.

Deputy Broughan also mentioned low broadband penetration and the inclusion of competition law powers, together with serious financial penalties, should lead to an improvement in this area. The rate of growth in broadband has accelerated in recent months compared to earlier growth rates. There was an increase of over 60,000 in the third quarter of 2006, compared to an average increase of about 20,000 per quarter in 2005.

Deputies made reference to delays by Eircom in the provision of telephone lines. There can be a variety of reasons for delays in meeting requests for applications and individual cases must be considered on their merits. ComReg has stated that it has concerns over the small number of applications that are not met in a reasonable timeframe and it has signalled its intention to set binding performance targets, as distinct from guidelines, for aspects of the universal service obligation, including installations. The legislation requires ComReg to hold a public consultation before setting such targets and also provides for an enforcement mechanism should there be persistent failure to meet performance targets. In the event of non-observation of a direction to comply with performance targets, ComReg may apply to the High Court for an order requiring compliance.

Deputy Durkan referred to coverage in the Black Valley in County Kerry. I am pleased to note his concern about one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Telecommunications coverage and provision of services have been a problem in the valley due to its remote location.

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