Telecoms fraud not included in Bill

Fraud prevention measures that telecoms firms lobbied to have included in the Communications Regulation Act did not appear in the legislation passed in the final days of the last Dáil.

The measures were sought by the Irish Telecommunications Fraud Forum (ITFF), a body representing industry players, to bring legislation into line with fraud prevention laws in Britain. Changing the Bill to include the fraud provisions would have required redrafting and the resultant delay would have meant the legislation would not have been passed in the last Dail session, according to a spokesman for the Department of Public Enterprise.

"Because of the drafting time that would have been required and the limited Dáil time that was available, we took the decision that making changes would have meant missing the deadline to get the Bill passed. It was important to get the Bill through so that the new powers for the regulator could be put in place," he said.

No spokesperson was available for comment from the ITFF.

Fraud prevention measures that would deal with the concerns of telecoms operators are now in place in the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, the Public Enterprise spokesman said. He said there were also measures to combat fraud in the Postal and Telecommunications Act 1989.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, dated November 17th, 2000, and released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information provisions, ITFF proposed the insertion of a detailed specific provision on fraud in the Communications Regulation Bill based on the provisions in the UK Telecommunications (Fraud) Act 1997. The provision set out the conditions under which an offence would arise including where a person dishonestly obtained telecoms services using the network of a licensed operator with intent to avoid payment, or a person supplied or offered equipment intended to allow others to obtain services dishonestly. Where offences were committed, the provision said licensed operators whose interests were damaged should be able to bring an action for damages, and obtain an injunction or other preventative measures, or apply for the forfeiture and disposal of the equipment used.

The ITFF told Mr Ahern there was a potential exposure to fraudulent activity in the industry and said it recognised the link with other serious criminal activity such as illicit drug-dealing, international fraud and racketeering. Telecoms fraud was an increasing phenomenon everywhere as criminals became more knowledgeable and sophisticated, according to ITFF.