Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The alleged scandalous conduct revealed by a certain newspaper in the United Kingdom would, under our legislation, fall under telecommunications legislation and would be dealt with in that context. I will not pretend to be an expert in the law in those areas, but I understand that type of conduct, where a media outlet conducts itself in that fashion, may well give rise to criminal offences in this State, but it is an issue exterior to this legislation.

The issue of debt collecting is another day's work. It is important that those engaged in that area behave with responsibility and decency and do not engage in the type of activity the Senator mentioned. Again, this does not fall within the ambit of the legislation with which we are dealing this afternoon.