Vol. 434 No. 3
129 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has received reports on the effect of tariff changes on recent consumer bills from Telecom Éireann; his views on the evidence so far that would warrant a revision of the domestic tariff; and the point at which he will order such a revision.
The Deputy will be aware that the new tariffs took effect from 1 September 1993 and that bills are issued monthly in the case of business customers and every two months in the case of residential customers. Furthermore, modern technology notwithstanding, it still takes some time for Telecom Éireann to analyse the available data. It is too early therefore, for any reports on the effect of the changes on consumers' bills to be available to me.
The Deputy will also be aware that I have set up the Telephone Users' Advisory group to assess the effects of the new tariffs on the various categories of customer. This group will form an independent view of the data as it becomes available and will, no doubt, report to me in early course. The question of a further revision of the domestic tariff is hypothetical at this stage.
