Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

60. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the proposals there are to give greater powers of enforcement to ComReg; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53590/21]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

ComReg currently has a suite of enforcement and sanctioning powers available to it in regulating the telecommunications sector. As committed to in the Programme for Government 2020, my Department, in collaboration with ComReg, is currently developing proposals to further strengthen ComReg's enforcement regime in primary legislation and to provide for an administrative sanctioning regime for the electronic communications sector. Considerable work has been done to date by my Department in this regard and it is my intention for bring forward legislative proposals on this in the coming period.

These legislative proposals will also give effect to the enforcement provisions of the European Electronic Communications Code, a new European regulatory framework for the electronic communications sector, which is currently being transposed by my Department. When enacted, the European Electronic Communications Code will provide for new rules for the electronic communications sector around consumer protection, access to infrastructure, spectrum management and universal service obligations, amongst others.