Priority Questions.
1 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has satisfied himself that ComReg has sufficient powers to address recent overcharging problems in the mobile phone industry; and if he intends to meet the regulator to discuss this issue. [19619/04]
View answerThe Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, is responsible for monitoring compliance by service providers with the requirements of the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Universal Service and Users' Rights) Regulations 3003, which are transposed as SI 308 of 2003. In accordance with the regulations and following public consultation, ComReg has issued a draft direction on the code of practice for tariff presentation. Comments on the draft have been sought by 30 June, shortly after which date ComReg intends to finalise the direction. The core objective of the code is to ensure that end users have access to accurate and comprehensive tariff information on publicly available telephone services. Service providers shall ensure that tariff information is accurate, comprehensive and accessible.
ComReg has sought a comprehensive report from each of the mobile phone companies concerning the incidences of overcharging. Following consideration of both reports, it will decide on the appropriate action, within its powers, that it will take.
ComReg is also considering further initiatives to provide information to consumers on the range of communication services. These steps will ensure that consumers are sufficiently informed to make the appropriate choices in terms of the service or package which will best suit their needs.
Is the Minister aware of the extent and significance of overcharging in recent months? Vodafone admitted to overcharging up to 22,000 customers who were roaming between 25 May and 15 June to a value of almost €150,000 and a week earlier O2 admitted to overcharging approximately 70,000 customers. Both incidences of overcharging of roaming customers mean that in recent months Irish mobile phone users and customers have been overcharged to the tune of approximately €650,000.
What is at issue is not whether these people have been repaid or their accounts reimbursed but the fact that almost 100,000 people were overcharged for roaming. That is unacceptable. ComReg recognised this and demanded a report from O2 by 25 June, four days ago. Has either the Minister or ComReg seen that report? If so, what is happening with it and will it be published?
I agree that overcharging is unacceptable. The two companies involved admitted voluntarily to the overcharging. The enforcement of the regulations is a matter for ComReg under the legislation passed by the Dáil. The regulations allow the regulator to apply for a High Court order compelling compliance in cases where companies are unwilling to comply. ComReg may also apply to the court for the imposition of a financial penalty on the companies. The court must, obviously, consider the circumstances of the non-compliance.
I have not seen any report. ComReg is the authority responsible for the implementation of the regulations and legislation. If it has received the report, it will make decisions on foot of that report and the circumstances in each case.
Does the Minister agree that the essence of the problem is that Vodafone and O2 came forward voluntarily on the overcharging issue? The regulator should have recognised that overcharging was occurring. If both companies had not come forward voluntarily, would ComReg have been aware of the overcharging to the value of approximately €750,000? Is the Minister satisfied that ComReg has sufficient powers to identify, monitor and regulate the issue of overcharging and to penalise the companies involved?
As the Deputy may be aware, I issued ComReg with a policy direction to drive competition in this area, to address specifically the issue of high cross-Border tariffs and to allow smaller mobile operators to have access to the existing mobile network. This will be the ultimate in driving competition. As the Deputy will be aware, a consultation process, driven by ComReg, is taking place in this respect.
In all my meetings with ComReg I ask its officials whether they require more legislative powers to drive competition in this and the wider telecommunications area, and any time that they have asked for additional powers they have been granted. When ComReg implements the policy direction I have given it in this area, I expect there will be a significant level of competition and I hope it will lead to new operators entering the mobile sector because that is what we need.
2 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will report to Dáil Éireann on the recent European Union agreement on the revised Irish Box and the concerns of fishing industry organisations regarding the baseline figures for fishing efforts by Spain, France and Britain in large areas of the former, much larger Irish Box; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19329/04]
View answerThe agreement reached at last week's Fisheries Council sets fishing effort limits on the fleets of the relevant member states in various areas in western waters. These limits were set on the basis of actual fishing activity by those fleets over the period 1998 to 2002. The framework for establishing these effort limits was agreed by fisheries Ministers last October and the finalisation of the effort ceilings last week was in accordance with this agreed framework.
A detailed analytical exercise underpins the effort calculations. Each member state was required to assess the levels of fishing effort exerted by relevant vessel classes and then to submit that data to the European Commission. The Commission has analysed this data and, at last week's Council, made a clear statement confirming that the fishing effort allocations represented the average fishing effort levels deployed in the relevant area by the respective fleets over the reference period 1998 to 2002. This is in full accordance with last October's agreement.
I am aware of concerns expressed by some Irish industry representatives and I have kept them fully informed of the data verification that has been carried by the Commission. The Irish industry has broadly welcomed the deal, especially for the new Irish Box area to the west and south of Ireland where most — about two thirds — of the Irish whitefish catch is taken. The protection of fish stocks in this most sensitive and vulnerable area was therefore Ireland's main priority and I welcome and appreciate the industry's strong support for the measures now in place for this biologically sensitive area. Overall, the fishing effort limits agreed last week provide the necessary protection for fish stocks in waters around Ireland, both inside and outside the new Irish Box.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he agree that the basic framework for fishing effort, agreed last October, is still the baseline from which we are operating? In the case of the north-west, he will be aware that the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation has grave concerns about the baselines submitted by France and Britain in particular. In the cases of the west and south-west, France and Spain submitted baseline efforts which our fishing organisations view as being much higher than what was taken in the period in the question. France will get an extra 10 million kW days in respect of whitefish and Spain an extra 4 million kW days, which seems unjustified. I accept that the Department has made an achievement in respect of the sensitive areas off the south coast. However, does the Minister agree that our fishing organisations are strongly of the view that the problem with the new Irish Box is the baseline efforts we gave France, Britain and Spain over the 1998 to 2002 period, which form their baseline efforts into the future, and which are a severe threat to our industry?
The Minister made some interesting points at a fisheries conference some months ago and last week about financial incentives for environmentally friendly fishing and smarter fishing. There has been a great deal of discussion about that, especially in regard to the east and south coasts. Our east coast fishermen no longer have the protection afforded by the old Irish Box. What incentives is the Minister thinking of putting in place over the coming years for fishermen who are prepared to fish in a more environmentally friendly way?
I kept the industry fully informed both last week and during the previous months regarding the discussions between the Department and the European Commission. The baseline figures, to which the Deputy referred, are set for the period 1998 to 2002. At the insistence of Ireland, the Commission issued a statement as part of the overall deal. The overall deal was recognised publicly by the fishermen as a good deal for fishermen in this country. However, the Commission, at our request, issued a statement, which is part of the deal ultimately agreed in Luxembourg last week. It states that the Commission confirms that the fishing effort allocations by member states, as set out in Annexes 1 and 2, represent the average fishing effort levels deployed in those areas, as reported by member states over the period of reference 1998 to 2002, and that these data were assessed by the Commission in close co-operation with member states.
One is comparing apples with oranges, in effect, when one is comparing the circumstances that obtained previously with those of the period 1998 to 2002. There have been many changes in the types of vessels and the effort deployed in the areas in question. All the data submitted by countries were examined resolutely by my Department officials and by the European Commission, which is standing over those figures.
3 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has satisfied himself with the manner in which consent has been given for an onshore import pipeline from the Corrib gas field to the proposed Bellanboy gas refinery; the procedures and analysis which were adopted in the processing of this application; and the way in which his Department assessed the structural stability of such onshore pipelines constructed in deep peat soil. [19552/04]
View answerIn April 2002, as part of my approval of the plan for the development of the Corrib gas field, I gave consent to the developers to lay an onshore and offshore pipeline to which I attached a number of conditions, both technical and environmental. The developers, in carrying out this work, must comply with all these conditions.
In my consideration and appraisal of the pipeline proposal I commissioned an independent technical evaluation of the onshore pipeline. The evaluation was carried out by a pipeline technical expert, Mr. Andrew Johnston, and is entitled Corrib Gas Pipeline Project, Report on Evaluation of the Onshore Pipeline, Design Code. This study addressed design, methodology, operating conditions, pipeline corrosion, public safety, welding and testing, pipeline material quality and protection from interference. Mr. Johnston's report states that the onshore pipeline design code has been selected in accordance with best public safety considerations and is appropriate for the pipeline operating conditions.
Subject to the developers' undertaking to comply with a number of conditions laid down in approval or consents granted by me, the design is generally in accordance with best national and international industry practice and the pipeline is considered to meet public safety requirements. Copies of Mr. Johnston's report have been issued on request.
May I receive from the Department a copy of the consent letter from the then Minister, Deputy Fahey? Is the letter, which was presented in the recent additional information request pertaining to the recent planning application of 15 April, of which I have a copy, the only consent letter? If there is a separate one, I would like a commitment from the Minister of State to send a copy to me. Will he also send me details on Mr. Johnston, who carried out the independent pipeline report? I have been unable to find contact details in any of the reports that are available.
Is the Minister concerned that neither Mr. Johnston's report nor the initial design report took into account the possibility of bog-slide or bog disturbance, as occurred in the same area last summer and which could have an effect on the pipeline? Is he concerned that when the local authority asked the company about this in reference to the recent planning application, the only evidence provided in its reply was the same letter from the Minister, dated 15 April, which states nothing about possible risks from bog movement?
More importantly, considering the conditions set out in the qualified risk assessment report on the pipeline design near the road, its ability to survive leakage or the water corrosion that might occur in it, have the Minister of State and his Department received any of those reports and why did the Department not require confirmation of those reports before it provided consent? What was the hurry in issuing consent to this report only two or three months after the first designs were presented, only two weeks after the Minister's assessment report came in and only days before the Minister left office due to the election? What was the hurry in issuing this consent and why did his Department not look for the reassurances required by the independent analyst before it gave consent?
There was no hurrying on the issue of consent. We commissioned an independent technical evaluation of the onshore pipeline and this was carried out by Mr. Andrew Johnston. We will make his report available to Deputy Ryan this evening or tomorrow.
I have the report. I wish to have the contact details.
The criteria used to identify and select the route between the landfill site and the terminal were the avoidance, as far as possible, of significant ecological, archaeological and engineering features; location of special areas of conservation and special protection areas; the avoidance, where possible, of potentially difficult construction areas such as side slopes, solid rock strata, peat complexes and river crossings; and the shortest distance, bearing in mind the other criteria.
While consent was issued in April 2002, the consent to construct a pipeline is, essentially, permission in principle to proceed with the design. This is followed at the installation stage by the issue by the petroleum affairs division, PAD, of the consent to install for the various phases of pipe laying. The Deputy raised the issue of peat. While the PAD is not aware that the construction of a pipeline in deep peat soil is problematic, it intends to have the peat issue addressed by the developers as part of the consent to install process. The issue raised by the Deputy will be dealt with by the PAD.
Is this the only consent letter or is there a separate consent letter which the Minister of State can provide for me? Does the Minister of State agree that the inspector's report states that this is a highly unusual pipeline, that there are very few international standards for an onshore pipeline which takes 330 bar pressure because most pipelines take approximately 100 bar, that the real risk here arises because the pipeline will carry gas, liquid and other impurities straight from the well which could be very corrosive and that the situation will be volatile and dangerous for local people, not just for the ecology?
Mr. Johnston is the expert in his field and the expertise in my Department confirms that the pipeline more than meets the standards laid down.
4 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the new water safety measures that will be in place in the summer of 2004; and if he has satisfied himself that patrolling of water regulations is adequate. [19618/04]
View answerI recently signed into law new water safety regulations aimed at Ireland's growing marine leisure sector as part of my campaign continuously to improve safety on water this summer.
I consider the wearing of lifejackets by everybody on board small pleasure craft is now an essential element in staying safe on the water. It is now compulsory for everyone on board a pleasure craft of less than seven metres, 23 feet, in length to wear a lifejacket-personal floatation device.
The new regulations, which are titled the Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Craft) (Lifejackets and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2004, have immediate effect. They encompass all types of pleasure craft regardless of the means of propulsion, and for the first time ever it is also compulsory for all children up to the age of 16 years to wear a lifejacket while on board a pleasure craft.
On the enforcement of the new regulation, the Coastguard, officers of the maritime safety directorate of my Department and the Garda have a major role to play. To assist in this process, over recent weeks two Coastguard vessels were deployed at Howth and Crosshaven as major boating activity areas in the country. Other vessels will be deployed on a random basis around the coastline during the coming months to promote safety awareness, including the wearing of lifejackets. I have also called on all organisations involved in water based activities to promote the wearing of lifejackets in accordance with the new regulations.
The new regulations have been widely welcomed and monitoring to date has shown a high level of compliance. However, I will look to expanding the policing capacity on water if there are significant levels of non-compliance. The public too have a key role to play by taking personal responsibility for their own safety through wearing lifejackets and taking other sensible safety precautions when undertaking water based leisure activities. As it is compulsory for all children up to the age of 16 years to wear a lifejacket while on board a pleasure craft, parents too have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that children wear lifejackets at all times.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
As part of its ongoing programme of enforcement of safety rules and vessel licensing conditions, the maritime safety directorate will continue to carry out a campaign of operational safety inspections on passenger ships and boats this summer. These inspections, including unannounced checks, will be undertaken around the country in relation to vessels at sea and on inland waters to determine compliance with licensing requirements. Licence conditions relating to manning levels, the maximum passenger numbers allowed and the continued availability of safety equipment are among the issues on which the inspectors will focus.
In addition, my Department, as part of its safety awareness programme, will undertake an intensive public safety awareness campaign across the summer months on the radio and through other media, focusing on the wearing of lifejackets for all water based activities.
I wish to pass on my sympathies to the families of the two men who were drowned off the coast of Waterford at the weekend.
I recognise the work the Minister has done in this area since his appointment and I am glad he recognises that the wearing of lifejackets is of prime importance. The Minister, Deputy Browne, and I remember the tragedy that occurred off the coast of Fethard two years ago.
Is the Coastguard responsible for ensuring that people wear lifejackets or do the gardaí have a role? It is difficult for the Coastguard to police this so responsibility for it should be extended. There are harbours and inland waterways all over the country where activity takes place. If we do not police this properly, the legislation will go by the wayside. What Department is responsible for policing this, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform or the Department of Defence?
I do not want to see water sports abolished because they bring in large numbers of tourists, but they must be properly policed. The requirement to wear lifejackets, particularly for the young, is welcome. Has the Minister plans for programmes in schools to highlight safety in water sports? If we want to educate young people we must do it through the school system because they will be involved in water based activities in the future.
Ongoing education and inspection campaigns are part of the remit of the maritime safety directorate in my Department. The Garda Síochána and the maritime safety directorate surveyors are the authorised enforcement officers under the Merchant Shipping Act 1992 but the Coastguard also has a major role to play and has been proactive in this area. It has been more than willing to take responsibility for enforcement and since we introduced the new regulations there has been a high level of compliance.
Furthermore, people are aware of these regulations and take their personal responsibilities seriously. Unannounced inspections will continue during the summer in coastal areas and on inland waters to determine compliance with the requirements. It is not only a matter of enforcement, however, it is a matter of education. Over the two bank holiday weekends so far this summer there have been 630 announcements on national and local radio about safety at sea. This programme will continue for the August bank holiday weekend.
5 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position with regard to the roll-out of broadband nationally, with specific regard to his Department’s schools broadband action plan and the plan to deliver broadband to homes here; if he has given consideration to the broadband initiative by the department of education in Maine, USA; if he will back up his claims that Ireland can be at the top of the OECD table for broadband connectivity by 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19330/04]
View answerThe provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter in the first instance for the private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised market under the regulation of ComReg the Commission for Communications Regulation. In its report on Ireland's broadband future, published in December 2003, the Information Society Commission concluded that the market has failed to respond to the demand for broadband connectivity and there is a proven need for Government intervention to accelerate the provision of infrastructure and the driving of demand.
Last December I announced my Department's broadband action plan which will see broadband connectivity rolled out to more than 90 towns with a population of 1,500 or more, using community broadband exchanges and strategic fibre. Expenditure of €35 million each year from now until 2007 has been committed to the broadband action plan. In addition to this initiative, the group broadband scheme which I launched last March will allow smaller communities to pool their requirements and obtain broadband connectivity from a range of service providers with €25 million in funding assistance from Government.
The regional connectivity agreements that my Department negotiated with Esat BT and the ESB at prices as low as one eighth of what they had been mean that all areas of the country can benefit from low-cost backhaul. These prices are on a par with the best available on the international market.
The broadband for schools programme will bring high-speed connectivity to all 4,100 primary, second level and special needs schools in the country by the start of the 2005 school year. My Department is working closely with the Department of Education and Science and the industry to deliver this €18 million programme which is being 80% funded by the industry. I am aware of the recent initiatives to provide laptop computers to high school students in the state of Maine and will follow developments with interest.
As a result of the £77 million investment by the Government in 1999 with Global Crossing, Ireland now heads the OECD league in international connectivity to more than 50 cities in Europe, America and the Far East. The significant reduction in voice and data communications costs to and from Ireland and the allied construction of world-class data centres, has been instrumental in attracting a number of major companies such as Google and eBay in the information and communications technology sector to locate their European operations in Ireland.
I know the Minister is not easily embarrassed. Anyone who throws his hat in the ring for the leadership of Fianna Fáil, given the groaning reaction of Fianna Fáil backbenchers to his candidature, is certainly not easily embarrassed. Was the Minister not embarrassed when he represented us in the Dundalk Institute of Technology a few months ago and the figures for broadband connectivity throughout Europe were flashed up on the screen? Denmark is top of the list, closely followed by Belgium. It showed percentages in double figures of houses linked to broadband. Ireland traipsed along with Greece at the very bottom of the list with 0.2% or 0.3% of connected households. Is it to be the legacy of the Minister's two and a half years in this Department that he has not adopted a more vigorous attitude to remedy the market failure that still exists in this area? I welcome the recent announcements by Esat, Eircom and NTL regarding free broadband trials.
The Minister referred in his reply to the experiment in Maine, USA, which was reported in The Irish Times by Karlin Lillington, the technology journalist. Every seventh grader, in our terms every child in first year at second level, has received a laptop computer from the State. As a former teacher I am aware that computers will have a revolutionary impact on education. The changing nature of education calls for care in this area. The Minister should now put forward some major initiative to highlight the developments in this field.
The Minister stated at the Dundalk conference that broadband is not the future but the present. Unfortunately, it is the future under the current Administration. Will he consider giving every first year or junior cycle child in second level schools a laptop either this September or next as part of an organised, new system of education at second level?
Any independent observer would agree there has been a dramatic change in the broadband area, mainly driven by this Minister. As the Deputy acknowledged, it is already accepted that we are now the only country in Europe in which broadband is being offered for free for an extended period. This did not happen by chance but as a result of the proactive policies of the Government.
It took a long time.
I have just returned from the signing of the contract for the management services entity, which will drive the promotion of the metropolitan area networks established by this Government and promote future broadband rings. I announced today a further 41 areas which will benefit, again provided for by the Government.
The price of broadband has dramatically fallen in the past year. While it is true we started slowly, before the previous election the Labour Party did not even know what broadband was as it did not refer to it in any of its election manifestos.
Will the Minister yield?
The time for this question has expired.
I have listened to the Minister for two and a half years. This drivel is the reason he will never be leader of the Fianna Fáil Party.
The Deputy does not like to hear the truth that the Labour Party's record on this issue is abysmal. The European Commission produced figures to show that this country has had the most dramatic percentage increase in the take-up of broadband due to the stewardship of this Minister.
The starting point was zero.
With regard to laptops for students, we were the first nation in Europe to have computers in every school, again due to a Fianna Fáil Government.
It is a small country.
The Deputy reads The Irish Times, which is the paper of record. My information with regard to the proposal in Maine is that the commitments made in this respect will result in only 8,400 students receiving computers, which is a very small step. I would prefer to work in conjunction with the industry to provide broadband, software and hardware to schools which will be part of the agreement.
