Vol. 571 No. 4
348 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 1221 of 30 September 2003, if he will make a statement on the matter in so far as it involves his responsibilities and those of his Department and related State agencies. [22304/03]
I would like to clarify the position for the Deputy.
Whereas I have responsibility for policy matters in relation to the postal and telecommunications sector, the Deputy will appreciate that I have no function in relation to the content of items distributed in the postal service or an individual's personal choice to use the telephone service. In this case the postal and telephone services are being used as a vehicle for a lottery/competition service, the regulation of which is a matter for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Furthermore, I have no function in relation to Regtel. Regtel is an independent body established in 1995 to administer a code of practice governing the activities of service providers using premium rate telecommunications services in Ireland. Premium rate telephone calls are regulated under a code of practice administered by Regtel. Regtel's code of practice strongly advises service providers that services such as lotteries and competitions are subject to legal restrictions and to seek expert legal advice on the matter before embarking on any such scheme.
Regtel is overseen by a board consisting of representatives of the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Commission for Communications Regulation and the Department of Health and Children, among others. It is independent from the Commission for Communications Regulation.
