The time has come for the Dáil to request the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. John Purcell, to investigate all aspects of the privatisation and deregulation of telecommunications infrastructure in Ireland. Following the sale of the second mobile phone licence in 1995, there was and continues to be wide public concern that a vital part of the national infrastructure was sold for a pittance and that the bitter complaints of the losing applicants may have had a serious basis. The privatisation and flotation of Eircom has been controversial, with many citizens on low incomes believing they should have received shares as of right. While the flotation raised a substantial sum to kick start the national pension reserve fund, many citizens are still aggrieved at the subsequent performance of the company and the poor returns on their investment.
Latterly, especially last year, many constituents raised profound concerns about the attitude of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation on the sale of the third generation mobile phone licences. Many of them believed the director lost her best window of opportunity for the third generation mobile phone network by not opting for an auction process. These concerns have been raised widely in the media throughout the past six years, most effectively by Matt Cooper, editor of The Sunday Tribune, Gene Kerrigan of the Sunday Independent and Fintan O'Toole of The Irish Times.
The extent of the ongoing public unease is such that a full investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General, John Purcell, is warranted. This need not impinge on any matters which might be properly investigated by the Moriarty tribunal. As with the DIRT inquiry first conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General, it may be necessary to confer additional special powers on his office to enable him conduct a full examination of the privatisation of Eircom and telecommunications deregulation. If that is the case, as it appears to be, the Dáil should do precisely that and request Mr. Purcell to report to it in full on all aspects of deregulation and the sale of Eircom. The Dáil should concede to the Comptroller and Auditor General whatever powers of discovery and investigation and other resources are necessary.
The Minister, Deputy O'Rourke, will remember that I raised the issue of the disposal of third generation mobile phone licences with her on 10 May last year when she informed me of the options open to Ireland in this regard, including the auction process, which happened in the United Kingdom and Germany, the so-called beauty contest route and the lottery route. She also referred me to the powers of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, and the director subsequently sent me her document entitled, The Introduction of Third Generation Mobile Services in Ireland. The document referred to the issue of four new licences and stated that they were being chosen by the beauty contest, not the auction, route.
Like many of my constituents, I was unhappy with this decision and referred it to the Comptroller and Auditor General. He told me by letter last September that, until the level of licence fee to be charged for the successful third generation applicant was decided, subject to the approval of the Department of Finance, it would be premature for him to become involved in any examination of the current position. However, he concluded that he intended to examine the papers dealing with the award of the third generation mobile phone licence and report on the matter to the Dáil if appropriate.
When I wrote to the Comptroller and Auditor General last summer, I also raised the issue of the second mobile phone licence. Mr. Purcell replied:
I examined the sale of the second mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone from the point of view of regularity and propriety and I was satisfied that proper procedures had been applied for the entire award process.
However, following recent press reports, especially the queries raised by The Sunday Tribune relating to the role of the European Commission, the work done by Andersen Management International and previous consultants, the scoring or marking process, the credibility of the business plan of Esat, the beneficial owners of Esat and the alleged political donation by a company in the winning group, I again contacted the Comptroller and Auditor General about the third generation and second mobile phone licences. He reiterated his earlier position but said that, realistically, he would need powers similar to those conferred on him by legislation for the purpose of carrying out the DIRT investigation.
I call on the House to consider urgently bestowing those powers on the Comptroller and Auditor General. In his recent communication he said that, since a committee or tribunal will examine the matter of the second mobile phone licence, he could not see the Oireachtas giving him such special powers for this purpose. However, the time has arrived to ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to deal with this matter because it involves hundreds of millions and perhaps billions of pounds worth of public infrastructure. We must ensure that it was disposed of to the best benefit of our constituents and I ask the Minister, Deputy O'Rourke, to refer the matter to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
