Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have listened to Senator Ryan's contribution. While I like the Senator as a person I would hate to sit down to table with him because of his doom and gloom and negative thinking. In his view, no matter what the Government does, it is wrong. I do not understand that approach.

Extra powers are being given to the consumer. The telecommunications regulator, ComReg, will provide additional powers to the consumer. For too long the consumer has not had sufficient influence when it comes to interacting with telecommunications companies. The consumer has had very little option when it comes to complaining about the services or about price. I hope the Bill will change the situation. I ask the Minister of State to reassure Senator Ryan that the Bill will give power to the consumer. Listening to Senator Ryan, one would think that the Bill is a non-starter.

The Bill will give ComReg the power to investigate, to prosecute breaches of competition law, such as abuse of a dominant position or price fixing. This set of powers will have implications for all the main telecommunications companies, particularly those operating in the fixed line business. The most dominant player in this system is Eircom which, according to the most recent figures, had a 72% share of the overall fixed line market in the third quarter of 2006. In this time of open competition this is a very high proportion of the telecommunications market.

All but 28% of fixed phone lines in the domestic and business sectors and Internet and broadband and fax connections are Eircom lines. The next five companies only make up 20% of the entire market share. There will never be fair competition in that kind of market place and the dominant players could abuse their position and engage in price fixing. The Minister and his Department have correctly realised this kind of situation could not be allowed to continue and is the reason this Bill is vital for the telecommunications infrastructure of the country.

Telecommunications companies will face fines of €4 million or more if they fail to comply with the rules laid down by ComReg. This level of fine will make the companies involved take notice and should help to drive competition, generate more movement in the market and ultimately protect consumers. ComReg will effectively have the same powers as the Competition Authority, meaning that its bite will be just as bad as its bark. It will be able to carry out investigations following on from complaints or even on its own initiative. The regulator will have the power and influence to gather evidence and even to compel people to appear before it under oath, produce documents and other evidence and to fine and protect whistleblowers. These provisions should benefit the consumer and ensure that companies taking advantage of their market dominance becomes a thing of the past.

The Bill also gives the Minister the power to lay down regulations to bring EU directives into Irish law, a mechanism which should allow for more effective and efficient governing. This should have a further impact on opening up the market.

Overcharging and charging consumers for services they do not want and failing to supply services sought by consumers will also be outlawed under this legislation. The last of these points is of particular importance, given the difficulties in obtaining broadband services in certain parts of the country. The recently published national development plan also contains a number of measures in this area and together with this legislation it is hoped delays in the provision of broadband will be a thing of thepast.

While certain sections of the telecommunications sector require further improvements to meet the demands of consumers, considerable consumer successes have been achieved in the industry over the past year or thereabouts. The decision by Vodafone and other mobile telephone companies to scrap roaming changes in the North and the United Kingdom was a positive development, which has made a significant difference to business people travelling to and from the North and Britain, while also benefiting the casual telephone user calling home from trips to the North or the UK.

The mobile telephone sector appears to be faring much better now that greater competition has entered the marketplace. With four operators enjoying a significant presence, competition has offered consumers choice and payment options to best suit their needs. Nevertheless, considerable criticism is still levelled at the fact that we have the highest mobile telephone bills in Europe. While I accept the mobile telephone operators' arguments that this is due to Irish people spending longer on the telephone than their European counterparts, more should be done to reduce telephone bills. I hope ComReg will be able to take action in this area.

I am in favour of several other measures in the Bill. I agree that ComReg should have responsibility for the oversight and management of the .ie domain name. Given that the Internet and telecoms are one and the same in the digital age, it is essential that ComReg take over the management of our national domain name. I also agree that the Minister should have further information-gathering powers in the area of telecommunications. If Government wants to be effective in having responsibility for telecoms, we need to have as much information as possible at our fingertips.

Once the legislation has been enacted, a public information campaign will be needed to ensure consumers are aware of what it entails. Consumers must be informed of legislative change. I am concerned that the strong powers provided for in the Bill will not be enforced. For this reason, the regulator must monitor breaches. The provisions for the establishment of an emergency call answering service should also be supported.

This is a worthwhile Bill which will finally offer consumers protection from over-charging and address the dominant role of Eircom. What impact will the legislation have on Eircom's retail network? The consumer will be pleased with the changes introduced by the Bill provided he or she is informed of them. I ask the Minister to ensure the message is reinforced through a public awareness campaign.