Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have good news on an issue which I have raised numerous times before. I am delighted an agreement has been reached on the abolition of roaming charges between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. It is due to come into effect in June 2017. From April 2016 we will have surcharges for roaming capped at €0.05 per minute for calls. There will also be reductions for SMS and for megabytes. It is a far cry from where we were just a few years ago. In 2010, the charge was €7 per megabyte of data when roaming, 140 times what it will cost in April 2016. It seems extraordinary, looking back. In 2010, a call cost €0.52 per minute, ten times what it will cost in 2016.

This is a positive change from the EU. It still has to be voted on by the European Parliament but I gather that agreement has been reached. A few months ago, it looked as though the issue would be stalled entirely but it is now likely to come to pass.