Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

We need to put the full package in place. The committee on which Deputy McManus and I sit discussed this issue in some detail in the context of mobile telephone bullying and the targeting of young people and pupils in schools by cyber-bullies. This was simply a non-issue five years ago, but it is one now because of technological advances and the fact that the vast majority of people above the age of about six now have mobile telephones. Some people have two or three mobile telephones or different types of PDA device. I ask the Minister, in the context of this legislation, to consider also the issue of cyber-bullying. Even though it is not directly related to this Bill, there is certainly a link.

I will provide some figures on the use of mobile telephones by young people. Fifty-five percent of all five to nine year olds in Ireland now have a mobile telephone, while 90% of ten to 14 years olds have one. A total of 410,000 children under the age of 14 have a mobile telephone, and that number is growing. I expect that in the not-too-distant future 90% of five to nine year olds will have some form of mobile telephone. All these people are seen by the industry as consumers, even though they are children. They need protection not only from potential abuse by their peers - in the form of text bullying between young people - but also from elements within the industry that may well see them as a soft target. I am glad to say the vast majority of service providers will not behave in that way, but we must ensure that this does not happen because young people can inadvertently sign up to premium-rate services without even knowing about it, whether they are on a "pay-as-you-go" tariff or a monthly payment.

We have had the mobile telephone companies before the committee on at least two occasions to ask them what they are doing on a voluntary basis to respond to cyber-bullying, and we are not happy with the pace at which the industry is responding to the issue. There has been some progress; I will not go into the products being provided by individual operators, but some are better than others. I would also like to see ComReg being given the power and the capacity to monitor the industry. It should be able to let the industry know it is being monitored on this issue and that if these products do not become available on a voluntary basis, it has the go-ahead from its political decision makers to introduce enforceable codes of conduct.

The premium rate services and cyber bullying issues are linked, which should be mentioned a great deal more in this discussion. One could make the case that an adult fooled into believing he or she is obtaining from a premium rate service a product at a cheaper price than that which he or she is actually paying should know better and that if he or she does not they should learn more in order to know better, unless there is blatant abuse in respect of which ComReg needs to deal with the provider. More than half of all five to ten year olds have mobile phones and we must protect them. If the industry is not taking this seriously we must come down on it like a tonne of bricks. I am willing to do that as are members of the Labour and Fianna Fáil parties who are members of the committee.

I would like included in this legislation a mechanism which signals to the industry that we are taking this seriously. We hold a stick over the alcohol industry in that if it does not act responsibly in terms of alcohol advertising we can legislate to force them to do so and we need to do the same in respect of mobile telephone operators in the area of child protection and cyber bullying which could potentially abuse vulnerability. I believe this type of approach would get cross-party support. I ask the Minister of State to consider this matter and to have his officials look at it.

On the technical side another problem with premium rate services which I have experienced is how one unsubscribes from a service. Unsubscribing from a service is sold as a simple mechanism. It is stated that one need only text "Stop" to a particular number and one will no longer receive the unsubscribed messaging service. However, that does not always happen. I have tested the system and while it often works, other times it does not. I tried to unsubscribe from a premium rate service in regard to political information but I continue to receive messages from the service.

ComReg's challenge is not alone to regulate the industry but to provide consumers with basic information and a channel of communication. This will ensure that there are consequences when people do not obtain the type of service they could reasonably expect. Last year Regtel reimbursed to consumers almost €20,000 arising out of issues such as inability to unsubscribe to a service and so on, which is happening on a fairly widespread basis.

What this legislation sets out to do is correct. ComReg is the appropriate body to regulate this industry. I would like if the Minister could do a little more with the legislation, although I accept what is contained in it is good. Also, we should put in place a warning mechanism which ensures the mobile telephone industry, as well as the premium rate service industry, is aware we believe there is a developing problem in terms of cyber bullying, on which we do not have a handle and with which the industry must assist us in finding solutions, which do exist. Some of the products becoming available severely limit the capacity of children as targets. While I believe this Bill will have an easy passage through the House, Fine Gael may table some amendments on Committee Stage in respect of cyber bullying.

While we can make generalised comments in our contributions on Second Stage debates of legislation, we do not in terms of legislation need to respond in an overly restrictive or harsh way in a space that is constantly developing and modernising. Cyberspace is doing just that. We do not want Ireland to develop a reputation as a country over-regulating or restricting investment and business opportunities in this area of essentially selling information via a communications infrastructure or network. The legislation strikes the right balance in that regard. We are asking ComReg to do four tasks in terms of putting in place a code of practice, new offences for overcharging, fines and licensing. There is always a balance to be struck between over-regulation and taking an overly protective approach to consumers that will drive investment in this area to other parts of Europe or the world, which would be a lost opportunity. Ireland needs to create a new economy which is based on information and IT infrastructure and on the sharing of information and services be it from a Government and public services point of view or from within the private sector.

I accept we are not trying to create a type of police state in this area of communications because by and large the vast majority of premium rate services are subscribed to on a voluntary basis because people want the information and are happy to pay for it. This is an industry that in my view will continue to grow dramatically year on year. I believe the level of chargeable texts, currently 76 million, may double in the next five years and that the industry will in the same period grow from €94 million to approximately €500 million. It is a service consumers want and will choose.

The challenge for us is to allow that marketplace and the employment and opportunities that go with it to develop while at the same time protecting vulnerable people who do not have the knowledge or capacity to recognise when they are being over-charged or abused. I look forward to addressing the legislation line by line on Committee Stage and trying to improve it.

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