Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I note the welcome aspects of this Bill. Despite the delay, this legislation will see the enforcement provisions in the EECC being transposed into Irish law. This is very welcome, especially the provision for ComReg to have additional powers and a wider remit. We are all conscious in our constituencies of issues around consumer protection and lack of due regard for online security. This Bill is a welcome initiative to redress some of those issues.

I am not going to take my full time because I welcome the Bill. I will, however, highlight several issues concerning consumer protection in the online sphere. It is hoped that the legislation might play a role in addressing this aspect.

I want to speak about the impact that cybersecurity breaches can have on individuals and also groups of persons, particularly those who are less adept at using new technology. We saw news in the last year, such as the awful real-world harms of the cyberattack on the HSE, that has highlighted the risks associated with new technologies and, indeed, failure to update old technologies. That is why the implementation of this Bill is so important. The huge cost implications around the breach of online security of the HSE was accompanied by horrendous impacts on the health and lives, in some cases, of individual patients. That should never be forgotten. It was absolutely horrendous to see the effects of the cyberattack on the ability of our health system to care adequately for patients undergoing necessary treatments. That is the starkest illustration of the real harm caused by breaches of online security in the recent past in Ireland. Year on year, however, we hear from individual constituents and through the media of people who have been abused or scammed through electronic communications at a more individual level. The advent of online technologies has undoubtedly made people vulnerable in many ways.

One area in which I have been campaigning is to try to address the closure of in-person services that have been offering supports to people in accessing or making contact with public services like the Revenue Commissioners, health services and the Department of Social Protection. Citizens Information Board services and the centres it runs have been really powerful mechanisms to provide people who are not technologically literate with the ability to make contact with and make applications to bodies such as Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and other Government Departments.

In my area in Rathmines in Dublin, we had a really serious issue when the citizens information centre closed during Covid-19 and all the services moved online. It has not reopened, however, and there are no plans to reopen the building. Indeed, the premises is being closed. Clearly, it could move to another premises and we are seeking to try to ensure that is done. My great colleague, Councillor Mary Freehill, is working with me on a campaign to try to do this. The issue of the Rathmines closure touched a nerve with so many people. We ran a public meeting in June. Large numbers of people from the local community came along and spoke about how the closure of a face-to-face service and contact point with Government services had really affected and adversely impacted them, and how it made it really difficult for them, for example, to access benefits to which they were entitled or find information they needed. There are, therefore, a variety of ways in which the closure of these services specifically disadvantage not just older people but the many people who have difficulty with accessing technology.

The reality is also that it makes individuals who do not have the necessary digital technology skills or who are trying to work through electronic service provision inherently more vulnerable to scammers and cyberattackers. That has a direct knock-on effect. "Liveline" also ran a series of programmes over the summer about the closure of citizens information services. This is an issue nationwide. It also reflects the more deep-rooted closures of in-person and face-to-face services and a move online for so many different services generally. It is not just public services. I am also thinking, obviously, of banking services about which we saw controversy. Large numbers of people still want to be able to deal face-to-face with bank personnel and that was really revealed this summer. The reality, which the Government must acknowledge, is that shifting all services, public or private, online to electronic access-only opens up our most vulnerable citizens to cyberattack and cybersecurity breaches.

In addition to the new enforcement mechanisms that are set out in the Bill, I ask that the Government might review digital strategies, for which the Minister of State is responsible. It is very welcome to see us moving to digital strategies. The legal profession, in which I was once a practitioner, was far too slow, for example, in moving to use technology for conveyancing. The Law Society of Ireland did eventually move to an e-conveyancing strategy. That is all very welcome. So much of the movement online has been hugely positive. I do not want to sound like I am being negative about this. However, we need to see retention of in-person supports to support those who may have difficulty accessing all services online.

We need to see steps being taken to protect vulnerable members of the public from scam telephone calls, email phishing and any attempts to gain access to a personal computer or hijack or hack bank transactions or other sensitive information. ComReg and the Government need to take a more proactive role in protecting the public from this sort of fraud. Some very useful advertising is going on at the moment, which I think is very helpful in that regard.

I will speak about the cost of communications, for example, telephone and broadband bills. As we experience a cost-of-living crisis, we currently have a really serious consumer protection issue with increased costs for consumers on telephone and broadband bills. Organisations like ComReg and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, should take up a stronger role in protecting the interests of consumers in that regard.

With the indulgence of the Chair, I will mention legislation relating to this issue that was brought forward in 2020 by my colleagues, Deputies Nash, Duncan Smith and Ó Ríordáin, namely, the Consumer Protection (Loyalty Penalty and Customer Complaints) Bill 2021. This would greatly improve consumer protection against price-gouging practices by outlawing what we call the "loyalty penalty", in other words, outlawing enhanced costs for retained or existing subscribers of services such as insurance, utilities and telecommunications while also imposing an obligation on service providers to establish a system to handle customer complaints to a regulated standard. I am conscious that other contributors have spoken about customer complaints around the service people get from Eir. The Labour Bill would outlaw loyalty penalties for services provided to consumers on subscription or roll-over contracts. We think it is fair to say that in most consumer relationships, loyalty is rewarded and not punished. The loyalty penalty has been really problematic. It has caused a great deal of angst and concern among customers, many of whom do not have the time or energy to devote to shopping around. I know the advice from consumer bodies is always about shopping around, but that can create its own difficulties. Really, the loyalty penalty has been most pernicious in punishing people who just do not have the wherewithal to engage in shopping around. I should say that we also want to tackle the problems of poor customer service in the telecommunications industry. We want to see and ensure that mobile and broadband providers are required set up a complaints handling scheme that satisfies minimum criteria. We would impose a general obligation on service providers to set up a system for handling customer complaints to a certain regulated standard. We believe the debacle we have seen with Eir must be addressed and tackled. Again, the issue has been raised extensively by Councillor Mary Freehill.

Consumer protection has not been sufficiently strengthened in Ireland in the past. This Bill is a welcome part of change in our attitude towards consumer protection. Unduly regulated markets in any sphere allow the exploitation of consumers who are unable to shop around regularly. Requirements that people do shop around tend to put the onus on the individual consumer or customer to change. We believe there should be more emphasis on placing responsibility on the company or provider of the service and not on the consumer of the service. We want to restore trust to ensure people do not feel ripped off when they access services and ensure that companies are not allowed to discriminate against existing customers by offering cheaper rates that are only available to new customers, nor should poor customer service and handling of complaints be allowed. We know the market alone cannot be trusted to deliver good customer service and fair pricing. By legislating, we can ensure there is adequate regulation of the market in the communication sector, but also beyond that in public and private services generally. I ask the Minister of State perhaps to consider adopting even some provisions on the loyalty penalty in our Bill in amending this Bill to strengthen the mandate of ComReg and further enhance the protections for consumer rights that are really at the core of this welcome Bill.

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