Surreal Comreg Consultation

Sponge Bob

It was about the documents they get in from Eircom etc. when consultations go on more like, and especially about what information may be divulged thereafter. They published the responses from 4 submissons on the matter.

Frankly 2 of them are twaddle , ESAT and some legal shower.

Vodafones is good stuff and to the point. Respect

The Eircom one is a pompous. long winded and totally disingenous dirge..... as expected . Have a good look at how the regulatory section in Eircom tie Comreg up in knots because if they get their way you will never see another submission from them ever again.

Doc Here

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0524s.pdf

De Rebel

Sponge Bob wrote:

....... and some legal shower. .....

I'm sure it will not have passed your keen eye that said legal shower's Chairman is none other than out friend and benefactor, The Most Worshipful and Eminent Prince-Duke Anthony O'Reilly. Who also has, apparantly, some slight involvement with a minor utility that trades under the name of eircom.

Small world.

De Rebel

Sponge Bob wrote:

Doc Here

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0524s.pdf

You know what annoys me most about that sort of poo is that it is my money as a tax payer that enables ComReg to initiate this nonsense and my money as a "customer" that enables eircom to respond.

Notwithstanding our collective love of eircom, this sort of navel gazing clap-trap convinces me once again that the time has come to abolish ComReg. ComReg was formed for one reason; the DCMNR could not act as regulator in a competitive market while it was the major shareholder of eircom. Therefore it was necessary to spin off the regulatory function and the ODTR (later ComReg) was formed. That problem no longer exists. In our democracy, it is the responsibility of the executive to determine and implement policy. Regulation is a key instrument of policy enablement and implementation. Regulation should be subsumed back into the DCMNR and Comreg abolished. At least then we would have people who are accountable to the electorate (once every 5 years) in charge.

ComReg has accomplished little, (and most of it begrudgingly at the wrong end of a Ministerial Directive) , ComReg costs a fortune and worst of all has no accountability.

In a 1985 speech calling for lighter and more effective regulation, the late John Kelly, jurist, professor, TD and sometime Minister, suggested the establishment of "An tUdras um Dhunta sios Udaras"; The Bord for shutting down Bords. It is worth posting a couple of paragraphs....

Mr. Kelly: Over the years I have come to look with horror at those big envelopes I get in the morning to see will there tumble out of them yet another Bill proposing another authority, board or commission. We have enough boards, commissions and authorities to sink a battleship and we do not need any new ones. If there were a case to be made for a new board, it would be a board with the specific draconian remit to close other boards down. It could be called An Bord um Threascairt Bord or An tÚdarás um Dhunadh síos Udarás, but we need that more than anything else. Any board being given birth to by a Minister accouched in this Chamber is entering the world on the defensive, required at every moment to justify its existence and by reference to standards more compelling than merely that it would provide posts for a certain number of public sector people.

This is a general observation about new boards. In recent years I am afraid I have detected a tendency to create boards and authorities with the purpose of relieving persons who have held themselves out as being anxious to exercise public authority of that responsibility. A couple of years ago — and it was not the first time it was mooted — our colleague, Deputy Noonan, Minister for Justice, floated the idea of a police authority. We do not need a police authority because the whole point of having a Minister for Justice, a Government and a Dáil to which he is responsible is that he must carry the wind. He must stand up to the whirlwind of criticism and take responsibility for the correct functioning of the police force and its proper command. He must make certain that the only thing a policeman has to fear is not doing his duty — if he does his duty he has nothing to fear, but has everything to fear if he abuses it. That is what a Minister is there for, not an authority. I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, heard me say this at a meeting. He has gone off the theme and we have heard no more about the police authority.

In the self same way that we do not need a Police Authority because it would simply duplicate the functions of the Minister for Justice, I see no need for a Communications Regulator, given that we have a Minister and Department with responsibility for Communications.

ComReg is a failed experiment. Having established it, even though eircom passed from state ownership shortly afterwards, it was worth waiting to see if it would add value and drive the development of the market. It hasn't. And there has already been one attempt at reform when the ODTR was enhanced to become ComReg with no noticeable improvement in effectiveness. But the time for waiting and seeing is over. ComReg is a failed entity, costing a fortune, adding no value and stymieing rather than enhancing development of the market.

Stop the waste, Abolish ComReg NOW.