Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for putting forward these amendments. I propose to accept amendment No. 60 but not amendments Nos. 54 to 59, inclusive.

Amendment No. 54 would frustrate the purpose of a section providing for a minimum quality of service. The aim of the provision is to provide a tool for ComReg to use when necessary and if the market does not provide acceptable quality-of-service standards. It is not intended as a tool to be used to set all the standards all of the time. The amendment would require ComReg to intervene in the market even when doing so is not immediately necessary. Intervention by ComReg needs to be justified and proportionate to the issue. If there is no evidential basis justifying the need to set standards, there should be no intervention by the commission in this manner. Similarly, in respect of amendment No. 58, as it is not proposed that there be a requirement to set minimum quality-of-service standards, if no standards are set, there will be no requirement for guidelines.

Regarding amendments Nos. 55 and 56, determining what constitutes an appropriate channel when setting minimum standards should be a matter for ComReg. The provision should also be flexible to allow the commission to set minimum standards that are justified by the needs of consumers. These obligations should be capable of developing through time. While it may be necessary today to provide in-person channels, that may not always be the case. ComReg is independent in the exercise of its functions but it has as one of its objectives the promotion of users' interests. It is the appropriate body to determine which customer service channels are required for consumers. Any action taken by ComReg in this respect will need to be justified and consulted upon, thereby providing the evidential basis for the imposition of any standard. It should be noted that ComReg provides a detailed mandate to all operators at this time such that they must provide their customer service in a way that is useable by, for example, people with disabilities.In respect of amendment No. 57, which would include a new category of minimum service that could be set, it is unclear how a minimal standard could be set for changing contractual terms or how we would set a minimum standard for increasing prices. In any event, consumer protections in this regard are set out in SI 444 of 2022, which provides that if the contract change is to the detriment of the consumer, the consumer will have a right to exit the contract. This includes a contract change to increase the price of a service. The end-user rights provisions of the code involve maximum harmonisation provisions. It is not permissible to set different standards in these areas where it is not explicitly provided for in the text.

Amendment No. 59 relates to the customer charter. I do not propose to accept the amendment. The customer charter could include information on quality of service. The publication of information on quality of services is provided for in Article 104 of the European electronic communications code and will be transposed in section 36 of the Bill. The Commission has advised member states that it is for national regulatory authorities, which is ComReg in Ireland, to determine whether information on quality of service can be published. It is not permissible for member states to mandate such publication as to do so would fetter the discretion of the national regulatory authority. Given the potential for overlap between the publication of quality of service information and a customer charter, it was felt it would be preferable for the requirement to have a customer charter in place to be at the discretion of ComReg.

I will accept amendment No. 60 and I thank Senator Higgins for suggesting it.