IMPORTANT: Flat-rate ammendment to Bill

sikes

its passed???

excellent. Even section 8 (our bit about flat rate) passed?

who were the main players in passing it i must find out and congradulate them

Nice one

dahamsta

The amendments were all withdrawn. The Minister said that an upcoming European directive will address all of these issues in 6-8 months. The ODTR and AOL have already told me that they don't expect that legislation for at least a year.

Fianna Fail. Note the abscence of an accent. Screw Mary O'Rourke.

adam

Dustaz

Pete are you sure it was fully ratified?
Last i heard they were going to questions and they would continue with report and ratification at the next session, then to the seanad.

Felix Randel

dahamsta are you serious,

btw i rang joe cosgave of fg

pete

adam: You beat me to it.

Just rewound the tape and watched it myself.

According to M.O'R, the EU legislation will be ratified this year. I have a speech here somewhere that refers to it too - i'll try to dig it out. Jim Higgins withdrew his amendment on this basis, but they were to return to the matter of the EU thing at report stage. The clock ran out on them. M'OR did try to bring it up, but the leas-ceann comhairle just went straight onto priority questions.

dustaz: unless i'm very much mistaken (been known to happen), at 18:16 they did the deed. I'll go watch again and see if that's the case.

edit: oops that speech was to do with something else altogether

timod

Originally posted by timod
Heard on 2fm news at 4:00 that fines are up to €4million or 10%

According to the examiner, it's whichever is greater:

http://breaking.tcm.ie/story.asp?j=31790566&p=3y79yz43&n=31791245&x=

Caen

Hi. I faxed the following to Minister of State Mary Hanafin (Dun Laoghaire) this afternoon. Hope it helps.

It is vital for Ireland’s organisations and citizens to have affordable high-speed internet access (a.k.a broadband flat-rate services).

Global corporations like Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and others, plus their partners from all over the world, are introducing new technologies today that require this platform.

It is through this affordable fast access network that far greater services in education, health, and business (to mention a few) can be conducted – improved services built from the tools made by the aforesaid organisations.

We will be left behind if we do not realise this opportunity today. This point is not up for debate. The world will not wait for Ireland and our future generations will be disadvantaged.

I only heard about the Dáil vote this afternoon so I hope I am not late getting this to you. I urge you and your party colleagues not to oppose the opposition amendment to the Communications (Regulation) bill 2002.

pete

18:16 "...the fourth stage is hereby completed and the bill is hereby passed. Agreed?....Agreed."

then he sent it to the seanad.

sikes

sorry pete to ask a question but

did the bit about flat rate get in?

Felix Randel

was 18 a droped or not ?

pete

Originally posted by sikes
sorry pete to ask a question but

did the bit about flat rate get in?

If you mean Amendment #8, then no it was dropped - on the basis that considerably more powerful EU legislation will be effected "within the year". We'll wait and see, i guess.


http://www.irlgov.ie/debates-02/18april/sect1.htm

Hopefully that should be updated soon... the last thing on it is

Mr. Higgins (Mayo): We have a mere three hours to debate All Stages of a very insipid Communications Regulation Bill, which is most unfair. We have tried to inject some fibre into the legislation by tabling amendments. In tandem with that, there is the digital hub Bill which is equally important because one cannot have one without the other.

aidan_dunne

what exactly got included in the Bill and what didn't? And what does all this actually mean (I'm getting a headache trying to figure it all out for myself!)?

Do we have to wait for the EU to pass the various amendments before they are included in the Bill? Or is it all pretty much done and dusted now?

I know it's still early yet and there is going to be a lot of disecting of the Bill going on tonight and over the coming days but could someone summarise what has happened and what the Bill actually means now? Thanks!

pete

I missed 90% of the bill myself, but i have it all on video... the transcripts of todays proceedings might be up this evening, but I hope to have the whole thing real video-ified & on the interweb by bedtime.

if anyone's got specific bits they want to know about i can try to find them before i leave work. but make it quick!

kamobe

Originally posted by dahamsta
The amendments were all withdrawn.

You mean everything that was relevant to us? Surely not?

dahamsta

Here's a silly question: Has Bertie called the election or not?

adam

Arboration

.. This is nothing?

pete

Originally posted by dahamsta
Here's a silly question: Has Bertie called the election or not?

adam

Not.

timod

Originally posted by dahamsta
Here's a silly question: Has Bertie called the election or not?

er, no...

Anyway, the comms bill is in the Seanad tommorrow. Does that mean another debate that we can lobby for? or is it only a rubber stamping?

dahamsta

Hmmm, doesn't he have to call it in session? Anyway, what does it matter?

I just want to say that I think Jim Higgins was wrong to withdraw his amendments, that they should have gone to a vote; and that Mary O'Rourke has acted foolishly and with zero concern for Irish consumers and businesspeople. In six to eight months, Ireland's tech and net industries will be well on the road to ruin. Congratulations to the Government for their ignorance, and Eircom for screwing the Irish people one more time.

adam

pete

Originally posted by dahamsta
that they should have gone to a vote;

There were literally three people there.... four if you include the leas-ceann comhairle

Arboration

I'd REALLY like to know whats happening.

dahamsta

There were literally three people there.... four if you include the leas-ceann comhairle

Our faithful leaders, eh?

adam

Winters

Sounds good the part about not letting them dig up roads and stuff.. A fine of 10% of there turnover would really distroy eircom, think of how much they over charge us by

SkepticOne

Originally posted by timod

er, no...

Anyway, the comms bill is in the Seanad tommorrow. Does that mean another debate that we can lobby for? or is it only a rubber stamping?

That is a pure technicality. It is only because the Bill was initiated in the Seanad that it also ends there. There is no lobbying to be done.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by dahamsta
There were literally three people there.... four if you include the leas-ceann comhairle

Our faithful leaders, eh?

adam

Yeah, they make me sick. Apparently, Mary Harney and Bertie were off announcing a bunch of new jobs somewhere today when, in my opinion, they should have had the decency to attend the funeral of that guard that was killed at the weekend, instead of sending a "representative." Just goes to show that it's true what they say: politicians will turn up at the opening of an envelope if they think it's going to get them some publicity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for new jobs being created but that guard deserved to have the Taoiseach there at his funeral today, not some representative. After all, he died in the line of duty and deserves some respect. Just goes to show that big business is more important to politicians than the men and women of An Garda Siochana who put their lives at risk every day.

Off topic, I know, but I felt I had to get it out of my system.

SkepticOne

The "flat-rate" amendment failed due to Mary O'Rourke assuring Jim Higgins that the ammendment would be covered in new EU telecoms regulatory package. Jim Higgins remarked that his email was full with people urging him to back the "flat-rate" amendment. A compromise amendment adding the promotion of affordable Internet access to the role of the regulator (commission) was added. Note that this would not have happened but for our actions. Getting an opposition amendment passed is a very difficult thing.

Thats it as far as I can gather at the moment.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by SkepticOne
The "flat-rate" amendment failed due to Mary O'Rourke assuring Jim Higgins that the ammendment would be covered in new EU telecoms regulatory package. Jim Higgins remarked that his email was full with people urging him to back the "flat-rate" amendment. A compromise amendment adding the promotion of affordable Internet access to the role of the regulator (commission) was added. Note that this would not have happened but for our actions. Getting an opposition amendment passed is a very difficult thing.

Thats it as far as I can gather at the moment.

Well, if getting that little bit of light at the end of the tunnel added to the Bill was as a result of all the e-mails the Ireland Offline committee and members sent him, fair dues to everybody.

I just hope that the EU will do something now to get us flat-rate access and that they will come down like a ton of bricks on Eircom, the government or whoever. Let's hope that the EU delivers where our own government has failed us so badly.

SkepticOne

Thanks to everyone who took part today. Even though the amendment we wanted did not get passed, we did send a strong message to TDs of all parties.

Arboration

The "flat-rate" amendment failed due to Mary O'Rourke assuring Jim Higgins that the ammendment would be covered in new EU telecoms regulatory package.

YEA' AND HOW ****ING LONG IS THAT GOING TO TAKE?
HOW FAR WILL OUR COUNTRY BE DOWN THE ROAD OF NIGLECT BEFORE IT MAKES ANY SORT OF MOTHER FUICKING IMPACT?


P.s. That was't a go at you Skep' it was at the subject.

dahamsta

Ah well, chalk it down to experience, move on. Well done to everyone for pushing so hard. Now we know how to do it, we can push even more buttons the next time.

So Mike, it looks like IrelandOffline is going to have to start playing dirty, eh?

Where's my rubber gloves?

adam