Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Calls of the nature referred to by Deputy Tom Fleming are regulated in accordance with the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011, known as the e-privacy regulations. Responsibility for enforcement of these regulations falls to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Regulation 13 of the e-privacy regulations seeks to protect individuals from receiving unsolicited communications for the purpose of direct marketing. The regulation covers the making of unsolicited telephone calls and the sending of unsolicited fax messages, e-mail and SMS text messages for direct marketing purposes and gives individuals the right to prevent organisations from using electronic means to contact them in order to sell a product or service. Since the introduction of the e-privacy regulations in July 2011, it is an offence for a marketer to make an unsolicited marketing telephone call to a mobile telephone without the prior consent of the telephone subscriber. With regard to landlines, the national directory database opt-out register has been in operation for several years. The register allows consumers to have their numbers registered to prohibit marketers from cold calling them. Over 1.16 million landlines are on the register.

It is an offence for a marketer to make a marketing call to such registered numbers. Where subscribers choose not to place their number on the register, they may still protect themselves from continuous marketing calls by requesting the marketer not to call them again. A marketer who fails to respect such a request commits an offence. I am satisfied there are sufficient safeguards in place to ensure consumers can be protected against such cold calling if they so wish and I have no plans to amend the legislation in this regard at the current time.

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