Vol. 431 No. 5
13 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if, in regard to his announcement to Dáil Éireann on 18 May 1993, he will give details of when the proposed Telephone Users' Advisory Group will be established; the way in which the membership will be selected; its terms of reference; if the group will have statutory backing as did the former Telecommunications Service Users' Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The establishment of the Telephone Users' Advisory Group which was decided upon by Government and announced by me to the House on 18 May 1993 will take place when the terms of reference and composition of the group have been decided. It is not proposed that the group will be a statutory body. If, however, it is found that its powers are insufficient I will review the matter. I will advise the House of the terms of reference of the group in due course and before the group commences its work.
Is it not the case that if this body, unlike its predecessor, is not established on a statutory basis, it will be powerless, its only function will be purely advisory and it can be dispensed with at the whim of the Minister? Does the Minister intend to have this body established before the increases take effect? Will it have any function in relation to the establishment of free telephone services which he announced for the various helpline agencies, which were the subject of discussion here in previous debates.
I already outlined that the purpose of this group is to monitor the new tariff system which takes effect on 1 September and I do not intend to amend it. The functions of the Telecom Éireann users' council, to which the Deputy referred, have effectively been taken over by the Ombudsman, under the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act, 1984. Sections 48 and 49 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983, which gave statutory effect to the users' council, were repealed by section 3 of the Restrictive Practices (Amendment) Act, 1987.
In relation to the voluntary groups, I have already outlined that £500,000 will be available from Telecom's resources to meet the demands of the Rape Crisis Centre, Childline and the Samaritans. Other groups have also indicated a desire to avail of this service from the £500,000 allocation. Telecom will begin discussions with those groups with a view to examining the merits of their case.
In view of the fact that the Minister reiterated what he said on 18 May, that this new non-statutory group will only take effect after 1 September for the purpose of monitoring the increased charges, will he agree that it would have been useful to have an outside independent group's assessment of Telecom's application for these increases and changes prior to agreeing them? Will the Minister say whether any such independent group or body was commissioned to examine the application? If so, will he publish the report?
I did not agree to the proposals submitted by Telecom. They are greatly modified as a result of long and detailed discussions between officials of my Department — in whom I have every confidence — and Telecom Éireann. No outside independent group examined the application because I was satisfied that the officials of my Department gleaned the necessary information to allow me to have discussions with Telecom to ensure that we could agree a modified tariff which would be fair and balanced for all concerned and met the objectives of the rebalancing exercise. The advisory group will monitor the new tariff regime, report to me and will have full co-operation from Telecom Éireann. I will take on board the reports as they come to me and refer back to Telecom Éireann at that stage.
In relation to the part of the Minister's reply concerning the £500,000 for the helpline services, has he had discussions with the various helpline agencies? If not, does he intend to meet them? Is he aware that the various helpline agencies are extremely concerned that they will be saddled with a freefone service — the cost of which would not be met from the £500,000 which is to be provided — and that they will end up with huge telephone bills at the end of the year which they may not be able to meet?
Telecom Éireann has been assessing the calling patterns of the three specific groups which I outlined on 18 May who would receive this assistance. They are the experts in the operation of these matters. I recall that some voluntary agencies welcomed the proposals on terms of the reduction of free charges and the trunk rate charge. Telecom Éireann is setting up a committee who will sit down with those groups to discuss the problems, if any, and go on from there.
Question No. 14 please.
