Communications Bill may be passed before election

The Government's delayed Communications Bill may yet make it through the Dáil before an election is called, after Opposition parties signalled they would agree to prioritise its passage.

The Bill, published last week, is considered crucial to accelerating the development of the State's high-speed internet infrastructure and to enabling the full liberalisation of the telecommunications sector.

The information and communications technology (ICT) sector has argued strongly for its immediate adoption.

"That Bill is printed and out. I have received an assurance from the main Opposition political party that this Bill will be put through immediately and we hope to cajole the other major party," said Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke.

Fine Gael confirmed it had given a commitment to back the Bill. The party's spokesman on Public Enterprise, Mr Jim Higgins, said "as long as the contents of the bill meet with our approval, we will do everything possible to get it through". He added, however, that it would be difficult to do so in remaining Dáil time.

A Labour party spokesman said it was the responsibility of Government parties to ensure the passage of its own legislation, but added that, in the case of the Communications Bill, "I can't see us objecting to it."

The Bill would expand the powers of the telecommunications regulator and replace the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation with a three-person committee.

The new committee would be able to levy significant fines of up to €1 million on unco-operative telecommunications companies. The current limit is £1,500.

Ms O'Rourke said the regulator's office needed to be expanded because of "the huge burden of work" and noted that "fines and penalties were extremely low and didn't have any relevance".

Delays in introducing the Bill have been a serious concern for ICT industry leaders and lobby groups.

Several reports, including studies from the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, IBEC lobby group ICT Ireland, and the Department's own advisory committee on infoComms, have argued the Bill should be given top priority.