Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I introduced amendment No. 1 to enhance the whistleblower's provision in the Bill by providing that ComReg may use its discretion when information is disclosed to it. It can decide, if satisfied on reasonable grounds, not to accept or deal with the information. This will allow ComReg the discretion to take no action when the information offered is of a vexatious or frivolous nature. The provision offers operators protection from a disgruntled employee, for example, who may seek to disclose commercially sensitive information to ComReg. It is in addition to protection offered by section 24C against mischievous claims, which makes it an offence to disclose false or misleading information.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 72 were made following discussion on amendments tabled by Deputies Broughan and Durkan on Committee Stage. They provide that, in addition to ComReg's annual action plan being presented to the Minister and made available to the public, it will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Competition Authority will lay a copy of the co-operation agreement between it and ComReg before the Houses. This will facilitate Members in keeping abreast of developments in respect of ComReg's activities.

Amendment No. 3 provides clarity in respect of prosecution of summary offences by ComReg. The amendment ensures that ComReg's prosecution powers do not extend to areas where other bodies, such as the Data Protection Commissioner under the data protection and privacy regulations of 2003, have responsibility.

Following discussions on Committee Stage about overcharging, I have accepted the views of the Opposition that oral statements on charges by undertakings would be difficult to prove. Amendment No. 4 deletes oral statements in respect of charges for the purpose of that section. However, oral commitments on telephone charges received by potential customers should be accurate.

Amendments Nos. 5, 6, 7, 9, 71 and 74 are minor drafting amendments made by the Parliamentary Counsel. Amendment No. 71 was made following discussion with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It exempts section 4(3) of the Competition Act, as amended by section 22 of this Bill, from the provisions of section 47E. Section 4(3) provides for making a declaration that a specified category of agreements, decisions and concerted practices is not prohibited. Declarations under section 4(3) can only be made with the agreement of the Competition Authority and ComReg. It is not appropriate that such declarations be encompassed by section 47E, which provides for cases on which agreement cannot be reached to be referred to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for decision.

Amendment No. 8 was made following consideration of points raised by Deputies Durkan and Broughan on Committee Stage. The penalty has been increased from €4 million to €5 million. This brings it into line with the penalty imposed by the Financial Regulator under the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act. The penalty is up to 10% of turnover if that is greater than €5 million. The court will have discretion, taking into account the size of the undertaking and its annual turnover, to decide the penalty imposed.

Amendments Nos. 10 and 46 allow the Minister to amend the current postal regulations, SI 616 of 2002, the European Communities (Postal Services) Regulations, to grant powers to ComReg to apply to the High Court for the application of a financial penalty to An Post in the event that the latter fails to comply with the direction issued by the regulator in respect of the quality of domestic service or corrective action. The civil enforcement remedy is already available to ComReg under the current regulatory framework governing the electronic communications sector. ComReg takes the view that extending this to the postal services would provide a greater incentive to An Post to comply with directions in respect of quality of service and corrective actions. Amendments Nos. 11, 12 and 13 are technical amendments that arise as a result of amendment No. 10.