Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister. The Bill is welcome. I am confident that when enacted, it will provide an effective and robust regulatory regime that will ensure the protection of users of premium rate services and restore confidence in the regulation of the sector. Coming from a business background I have a slight problem with the caveat emptor need. We cannot protect everybody from everything and there is a danger that we tend to do that in various ways. I know of some of the challenges facing the Minister and on that basis I support what he is doing. It is not just young people; other susceptible people have been abused in this regard. I know of one competition in which there were four or five very big prizes worth large sums of money. All the other small prizes, which included a week's holiday in Florida, were guaranteed so winners were guaranteed one of those prizes. It also guaranteed that calls would be answered within ten minutes. However, calls took varying lengths of time. While everybody got a prize, what use is one week's holiday in Florida if it is just the use of a bed in a hotel in Florida and the person must pay to fly there? Clearly people lost a considerable amount of money on it. I know the young man who established that legitimately and made a large sum of money from it. It was quite legitimate. I do not know how the Minister will solve this issue and I do not know the Bill in sufficient detail, but I am sure the regulator will have some ability to do so.

I welcome any Bill which brings in more safeguards to protect the customer. The issue of using mobile phones for marketing and advertising is perhaps more complex than we thought and certainly than I thought. In the Middle East for example, unsolicited text messages are very common and do not prompt many complaints. People in the Middle East are apparently quite used to them and do not have any problem with them. However, Europeans are less enamoured with such intrusion and it is interesting to note that in some parts of Scandinavia it is usual to send someone a text message asking permission to call that person. I had not realised that.

Without repeating what others have said about the Bill, I would like to get the Minister's view on some of issues that are relevant and will become increasingly relevant for mobile phone advertising in the future owing to rapidly developing technology. Mobile phones, some which have satellite-positioning technology, could be used in the future to alert people through text messages or visual advertisements to a certain shop or restaurant as they are walking or driving past. People using the Internet to search for a generic term could be targeted on their mobile phones. For example someone keying "Indian food" into Google, could then receive advertisements from nearby Indian restaurants. Of course, it is an innovative way of advertising, but I am still unsure of such direct tactics. I would be interested to get the Minister's view. This comes back to the point about caveat emptor because that seems like a very clever form of advertising. Clearly if it is intrusive, we must be able to ensure that people can disconnect. I read in the Bill that there are ways to do so but I am not sure I understand them. I am not sure the Bill provides for this progression of technology and perhaps we should try to anticipate some of the changes in this field given that the technology changes so much.

Why do schools close in the snow? On a related note, I think mobile phone technology has great relevance regarding the recent closing of schools across the country due to snowfall. I am sure the Minister is too young to remember it, but approximately 30 years ago when there was a very heavy fall of snow, a particular Minister, who is no longer with us, became known as the Minister for snow because he announced we would close all schools for a week. However, that was because there was an enormous fall of snow in Dublin but there was no snow in Cork, Limerick or anywhere else.

It would appear to many of us from the older generation that schools close much more often than they used to. Advanced communications make it easier for schools to close; they can send a text message and inform students they will be closed. Even more to the point they can inform students that they will be open, which is probably more important rather than having to close schools in a large area. This of course could not happen in the past. Closing a school back then would have caused considerable chaos and confusion with students and teachers turning up to the school, then having to find their way home again. The point is that perhaps if schools had the technology we have now, they could have stayed open and have notified people that they were open. I am not sure how we can do it effectively, but I think it is worth looking at how technology, including mobile phones, is used responsibly especially when it comes to school closures.

The effort the Minister is making is well worthwhile. I assume the regulator will be able to handle the details of these matters. Technology is changing all the time and is moving very fast. I hope the Bill takes into account the changes that will take place in technology in the years ahead. I congratulate the Minister on introducing the Bill and urge him to ensure we enact it as soon as possible.