In section 2, insert the following definitions before the definition of “the Minister”:

“except as provided by section 9, the expression ‘the appropriate authority’―

(a) in relation to the use of a television set, means the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and

(b) in relation to wireless telegraphy apparatus associated with the safety, security and operation of ships and vessels (including the certificates of competency for the operation of apparatus for wireless telegraphy on ships and vessels), means the Minister for Transport, and

(c) in relation to any other matter, means the Commission;

the expression ‘the Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

Insert the following section after section 2:

“Minister for Transport to consult other authorities before making regulations or orders.

2A.—(1) The Minister for Transport may make regulations or orders under this Act only after having consulted the Commission and the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

(2) Regulations or orders made in contravention of subsection (1) have no effect.”.

Substitute “The appropriate authority” for “The Minister”.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “The appropriate authority” for “The Minister”.

(b)F1[…]

(c) In subsection (2), substitute “appropriate authority” for “Minister”.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “The appropriate authority” for “The Minister”.

(b) In subsection (1)(d) and (g), substitute “that authority” for “the Minister”.

(c) In subsection (2), substitute “satisfies the appropriate authority that the person” for “satisfies the Minister that he”.

(d) In subsection (2A) (inserted by section 17(2) of the Broadcasting Act 1990), substitute “If it appears to the appropriate authority expedient to do so, it” for “Where it appears to be expedient to the Minister he”.

(e) In subsection (2A), substitute “that authority” for “the Minister”, where secondly occurring.

(a) Substitute the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) The appropriate authority may, whenever it considers it appropriate to do so, serve on a person a special notice, accompanied by or including a form of declaration, requiring the person―

(a) to state on the form of declaration such one or more of the matters specified in subsection (2) as is specified in the notice, and

(b) to complete and sign the declaration, and

(c) to give or send the completed declaration by post to a specified officer of that authority.

The special notice is required to be in writing and to be sent by registered post.”.

(b) In subsection (3), substitute “shall, within 14 days after service,” for “shall within the time aforesaid”.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “the appropriate authority” for “the Minister”, where firstly occurring.

(b) In subsection (1), substitute “that authority” for “the Minister”, where secondly and thirdly occurring.

(c) In subsection (2), substitute “officer of the appropriate authority” for “officer of the Minister”.

(d) In subsection (3)(a), substitute “the officer of the appropriate authority” for “officer of the Minister”.

(e) In subsection (3)(a), substitute “the appropriate authority” for “the Minister”, where secondly and thirdly occurring.

(f) In subsection (3)(b), substitute “the appropriate authority” for “the Minister”.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “The appropriate authority” for “The Minister”.

(b) In subsection (1)(e), substitute “that authority” for “the Minister”.

(c) Insert the following subsection after subsection (6):

“(7) In this section, ‘appropriate authority’―

(a) in relation to apparatus for wireless telegraphy on ships, means the Minister for Transport, and

(b) in relation to apparatus for wireless telegraphy on aircraft, means the Commission.”.

Substitute “the appropriate authority” for “the Minister”.

Substitute the following section:

“Prosecution of offences.

13.—A prosecution for a summary offence under this Act may be brought only by the appropriate authority, a person to whom the functions of that authority have been delegated or some other person authorised by law to prosecute offences.”.

Substitute “the State” for “Saorstát Éireann”, wherever occurring.

Substitute the following section:

“Offences in connection with telephones.

13.—(1) Any person who—

(a) sends by telephone any message that is grossly offensive, or is indecent, obscene or menacing, or

(b) for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety to another person―

(i) sends by telephone any message that the sender knows to be false, or

(ii) persistently makes telephone calls to another person without reasonable cause,

commits an offence.

(2) A person found guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on conviction―

(a) if tried on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €75,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both, or

(b) if tried summarily, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.

(3) A contravention of this section is an offence under the Post Office Act 1908.

(4) On convicting a person for an offence under subsection (1), the court may, in addition to any other penalty imposed for the offence, order any apparatus, equipment or other thing used in the course of committing the offence to be forfeited to the State.

(5) In this section, ‘message’ includes a text message sent by means of a short message service (SMS) facility.”.

Substitute the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) The powers conferred on the Authority by subsection (2)(a) and (b) are exercisable only under a licence issued by the Commission for Communications Regulation and in accordance with any conditions to which the licence is subject.”.

In subsection (1), insert the following definition after the definition of “appointed day”:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “the Commission for Communications Regulation” for “the Minister”, where first occurring.

(b) In subsection (1), substitute “that Commission” for “the Minister”, where secondly occurring.

(a) Substitute the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) A notice to be given to the Minister or the Commission under this Act is required to be in writing and be in the prescribed form (if any).”.

(b) Substitute the following subsections for subsections (4) and (5):

“(4) If an authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that a record required to be kept under this section is kept at a particular place, the officer may, at any reasonable time, enter the place and request the person apparently having charge of the place to produce the record for inspection by the officer. On being so required, that person shall, without delay, comply with the request so far as it is practicable to do so.

(5) Any notification required to be given to the Minister or the Commission by or under this Act may be given by delivering personally or sending it by registered post and not otherwise.

(6) In subsection (4), ‘authorised officer’ means a person employed in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources who is authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise the power conferred by subsection (4).”.

In subsections (1), (2), (3) and (5), substitute “the Commission for Communications Regulation” for “the Minister” wherever occurring.

In subsection (1), insert the following definition after the definition of “Companies Acts”:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

In subsection (1), delete paragraph (e).

In subsection (2), substitute “the Commission” for “the Director”.

(a) Insert the following definition after the definition of “apparatus for wireless telegraphy”:

“ ‘appropriate authority’ means―

(a) the Minister, in the case of a matter involving licences for television sets, and

(b) the Minister for Transport, in the case of a matter involving wireless telegraphy apparatus associated with the safety, security and operation of ships and vessels (including certificates of competency for the operation of apparatus for wireless telegraphy on ships and vessels), and

(c) the Commission, in the case of any other matter.”.

(b) Insert the following definition after the definition of “cinematograph film”:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002 (No. 20 of 2002);”.

In subsection (1), substitute “Commission” for “Minister”.

In subsection (2)(b), substitute “Commission” for “Minister”.

(a) Substitute “Commission” for “Minister”, wherever occurring.

(b) Substitute “provider of an electronic communications service” for “Bord Telecom Éireann”, wherever occurring.

Substitute “the appropriate authority” for “the Minister”.

Substitute “by the Commission” for “by the Minister”.

Substitute “The appropriate authority” for “The Minister”.

In subsection (1), insert the following definition after the definition of “company”:

“ ‘ComReg’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

In subsections (3), (5) and (6), substitute “ComReg” for “the Minister”, wherever occurring.

Substitute “ComReg” for “the Minister”, wherever occurring.

Substitute “ComReg” for “the Minister”, wherever occurring.

In subsection (1), insert the following definition after the definition of “the Authority”:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

Substitute “officer of the Commission” for “officer of the Minister”.

Substitute “the Commission” for “the Minister”, except where fourthly occurring.

Substitute “the Commission” for “the Minister”, wherever occurring.

(a) In subsection (1), substitute “the Commission” for “the Minister”, wherever occurring.

(b) Repeal subsection (2).

Substitute the following section:

“Transfer of certain functions under Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926 to company.

70.―(1) The Commission may, by order―

(a) transfer to the company the functions of the Commission under section 5 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926, or

(b) assign to the company functions of the Commission under section 7 of that Act in so far, in each case, as they relate to apparatus for wireless telegraphy in aircraft.

(2) If an order under subsection (1) is in force, in relation to functions under section 7, those functions continue to be vested in the Commission but concurrently with the company and so as to be capable of being performed, as the Commission may determine, either by the Commission or the company.

(3) The company shall remit to the Commission any fees paid to it under section 5 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926, subject to the deduction of amounts determined by the company and the Commission for expenses incurred by the company under that section.

(4) The company shall provide the Commission with information in relation to such matters concerning the performance of functions transferred or assigned to it under this section as the Commission specifies in writing.

(5) In this section, ‘the Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation.”.

(a) In subsection (1), insert the following definition before the definition of “the company”:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Communications Regulation established by Part 2 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;”.

(b) In subsection (1), repeal the definition of “the Director”.

(a) In subsections (1) to (4), substitute “the Commission” for “the Minister”.

(b) Repeal subsections (5) to (7).

Substitute the following section:

“Authorised officers.

12.―(1) The Commission may appoint persons to be authorised officers for the purposes of this section.

(2) The Commission shall provide each person appointed under subsection (1) with a certificate of appointment.

(3) When exercising a power conferred by this section, an authorised officer shall, if asked to do so by the person in relation to whom the power is being exercised, produce the certificate to the person for inspection.

(4) For the purposes of obtaining information necessary for the performance of the Commission’s functions under this Act, an authorised officer may do all or any of the following:

(a) enter at any time the premises of a provider of telecommunications services for the purpose of exercising powers conferred by this section;

(b) require any provider of telecommunications services to produce records relating to the provision of telecommunications services that are within the provider’s power or control and to provide the officer with such information as the officer may reasonably require in relation to any entries in the records;

(c) inspect or take copies of any such records or any of their contents;

(d) require a provider of telecommunications services mentioned in paragraph (a) to provide the officer with such information as the officer may reasonably require with respect to the provision of telecommunications services;

(e) make such inspections, tests and measurements of machinery, apparatus and other equipment on the premises as the officer considers appropriate.”.