Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Bill seeks to impose a wide range of obligations on network and service providers and mitigate security risks. It is required to bring into law the extension of the powers of ComReg to compensate customers and impose fines on companies that do not keep up their side of a contract. The Bill will give civil enforcement powers to ComReg where there are disputes about utilities and will also give customers protection.

If people terminate a contract and change providers, they are often billed twice. There needs to be accountability. ComReg needs to have enforcement powers and be able to fine companies. It needs to have the power to deal with companies that do not stop direct debits.

We know how important post offices are in our communities. They are the centre of any community, in terms of postage, pensions and everything else. The banking sector is now using post offices. The post office in Croom closed recently, and luckily Padraig Broderick in Spar took it on. It could not be taken on as a viable business in itself, because it was not viable. We could not lose it because of the people who used it. The shops in the area made it viable. If we want post offices to be sustainable, people have to be paid properly for the transactions that go through them. We need to make them a viable single entity for the future of all post offices. I would like to make sure any services provided through post offices are a viable option to future-proof post offices and communities. People need to be paid properly for the work they do.

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