From this Sunday, 1st July 2012, using mobile internet to access maps, videos, photos, social networks and email will be much cheaper while travelling in other EU member states.

A new EU regulation means that, for the first time, there will be a maximum charge for “data roaming” – downloading data from the internet when using a mobile connection.

The new price cap means that instead of paying upwards of €4 per megabyte to go on facebook or look at Google maps on your phone, the price per megabyte is capped at 70 cents.

The data roaming rules will mean savings of over €1000 per year for a typical businessperson travelling in the EU. A family taking an annual holiday in another EU country can expect to save at least €200. (Full details of these data roaming case studies are in Annex II).

The new rules will also cut again the maximum prices for voice calls and texts.

Overall, the improved EU roaming regulation – taking into account calls, text messages and data – will deliver consumers savings of 75% across a range of mobile roaming services, compared to 2007 prices.

This year, Europeans will spend around €5 billion on roaming services, a saving of around €15 billion compared to prices before the first EU roaming regulation became law in 2007.

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The new maximum prices mobile users will face as of 1^st July 2012 are:

• · 29 cents per minute to make a call, plus VAT (down from 35c)
• · 8 cents per minute to receive a call, plus VAT (down from 11c)
• · 9 cents to send a text message, plus VAT (down from 11c)
• · 70 cents per Megabyte (MB) to download data or browse the Internet whilst travelling abroad (charged per Kilobyte used), plus VAT.

In July 2009 downloading data cost more than €4 per Megabyte from many operators – now those prices will be cut by around six times. By 2014, as prices are cut further, the maximum cost of downloading data will be just 20 cents per Megabyte, plus VAT, a saving of 90% on many current rates.

Operators are free to offer cheaper rates. Price caps are a maximum level, acting as a safeguard, and competition should drive them lower.

Also, as of 1 July 2012, to help avoid “data bill shocks”, people travelling outside the EU will get a warning text message, email or pop-up window when they are nearing €50 of data downloads, or their pre-agreed level. Consumers will then have to confirm they are happy to go over this level in order to continue their data roaming. This extends the alert system currently in place within the EU.

The measures coming into effect on 1 July are the first in a series of progressively reducing price caps, eventually leading to a new system that will introduce choice, competition and new great roaming deals into the market by allowing consumers to choose a separate roaming contract before they travel or a provider at their destination, similar to the way they choose a Wi-Fi network. This option will be possible as of 1 July 2014.

Background

The EU first introduced caps on roaming prices in 2007 (IP/07/870), ensuring that mobile phone subscribers pay similar roaming tariffs across the EU. In July 2009, revised rules were adopted that cut roaming prices further in instalments so that by July 2011 the maximum roaming charges was 35 cents per minute for calls made and 11 cents for calls received while abroad (see IP/09/1064 and MEMO/09/309). The 2009 roaming rules are applicable until the end of June 2012.

For more information

European Commission’s roaming website

Through my role as a County Councillor, I am a representative of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on the Dublin Regional Authority. Below I have provided some details abotu the DRA and its role as well as including all payments I have received. I am also entitled to draw down expenses for attending any Conferences through the Regional Authority but I have yet to attend any.

July – December 2009: €532.00
January – December 2010: €824.30
January – December 2011: €851.20

The Dublin Regional Authority is one of eight Regional Authorities set up in 1994 under the Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) Establishment Order 1993. The Dublin Region comprises the administrative areas of Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council. The population of the Dublin region is 1.273m (2011).

The Dublin Regional Authority consists of a Board of 31 elected representatives nominated from the four Dublin local authorities operating within the region as follows:

Dublin City Council: 16
South Dublin County Council: 5
Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown County Council: 5
Fingal County Council: 5

Membership of the Regional Authority comprises elected public representatives nominated by the four constituent Local Authorities within the Region. Regional Authorities are assisted in the exercise of their functions by Operational Committees. These generally comprise the Chief Officers of local authorities and state agencies in the respective regions. The Regional Authority meets once a month on a Tuesday evening in City Hall.

The Authority has the primary roles of preparing and implementing Regional Planning Guidelines in tandem with the Mid-East Regional Authority for the Greater Dublin Area; and for promoting co-ordination in the provision of public services in the region, which includes promoting co-operation and joint action between local authorities, public authorities and other bodies.

The Authority has responsibility to review the provision of public services and the overall development needs of the region. In addition the Authority has the responsibility to provide proposals, advice, information and recommendations to Government for the purposes of plans and programmes relating to EU assistance and to review the implementation of measures for which EU assistance is made available.

On the 27th July 2011, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government signed an Order establishing a Constituency Commission under Part II of the Electoral Act, 1997 to review the Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. The Constituency Commission was established to draw up recommendations in light of the findings of the 2011 census.
The Commission’s report titled “Constituency Commission Report 2012 Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies” was presented to the Chairman of the Dáil on 21st June 2012.
The report recommends the reduction in Dáil seats from 166 to 158. This is the largest reduction that can be made without a change to the Constitution. The reduction in seats recommended will result in the number of constituencies also dropping from 43 to 40. As a result there have been some fairly major recommendations made in relation to the redrawing of constituency boundaries.

At this stage, everything contained in the Constituency Commission Report are merely recommendations. However, it is highly unlikely that any changes will occur as it is custom since the 1970s for all the major parties to accept the independent recommendations. The necessary legislation will be passed through the Dáil between now and September.

For the existing Dáil constituency of Dublin South, there are major changes recommended. At the moment the 5 seat Dublin South constituency stretches from the N11 to the Ballyboden Road and from the Dodder to the Dublin Mountains.

The new changes will see the constituency renamed Dublin Rathdown as the Constituency Commission Report recommended that the extensive use of non-descriptive, cardinal-point designations — for example, West, North-West, North-Central — militates against a sense of identity or locality. In the mid 1990s, the newly created Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council came into being, the Rathdown tag was added to demonstrate that the Council’s responsibilities stretched beyond the town of Dun Laoghaire. Although Rathdown School is in Glenegeary, the Barony of Rathdown once referred to the lands stretching from Bray to Rathfarnham.

With the recommendation to do away with the name, Dublin South, the Constituency Commission Report recommended that the new constituency take the name Dublin Rathdown in light of its usage by the County Council.

Beyond the name of the constituency, the major changes are its reduction in seat numbers from 5 to 3 and the reduction in the geographic size of the constituency. The Constituency Commission Report has recommended that the Rathfarnham Ward of South Dublin County Council be transferred over to the newly expanded constituency of Dublin South West while a number of local electoral districts such as Foxrock and Cabinteely located in the Stillorgan and Glencullen-Sandyford Wards be transferred back to the Dún Laoghaire constituencies where they had been prior to the last constituency review.

“Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Rathdown

The population of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown administrative county is 206,261. This is equivalent to 7 seats in a 158 member Dáil. The Commission recommends that this area should form two constituencies, a 4-seat constituency to be called Dún Laoghaire and a 3- seat constituency to be called Dublin Rathdown. The Commission therefore recommends the transfer of population of 13,762 in four electoral divisions from Dublin South to Dún
Laoghaire enabling Dún Laoghaire to remain a 4-seat constituency. The Commission recommends the transfer of nine electoral divisions, with a population of 39,311, in the Ballyboden, Firhouse, Edmondstown, Rathfarnham area from Dublin South to Dublin South- West and that Dublin South should become a 3-seat constituency and be renamed Dublin Rathdown.”

As it stands 4/5 of the sitting TDs in Dublin South will either see their homes or electoral bases located outside the new constituency boundary. While this does not preclude any of them from running again in the new constituency of Dublin Rathdown, it will pose a major challenge when the next General Election rolls around.

From a County Council point of view, a follow up review of Ward boundaries will follow once the recommendations of the Constituency Commission Report are passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas. A review of boundaries will most likely also come with a reduction in overall Councillor numbers given the Minister has already committed to merging local authorities in Limerick and Tipperary. There is a huge disparity in terms of local representation across the country, for example the 4 seat Glencullen-Sandyford Ward which I represent as the same population as the entire area of Leitrim County Council which has 22 Councillors who receive the same levels of re numeration in terms of salary.

In terms of overall political reform, these recommendations will have little to no impact as any major changes will not come about until after the Constitutional Convention. However, it will ensure that the make up of the next Dáil is guaranteed to change once more.

Local Fine Gael Councillor, Neale Richmond has encouraged local clubs to apply to a fund set up by soft drinks manufacturer Coco Cola to support community and voluntary groups.

“The Coca-Cola Thank You fund is a €125,000 fund which has been set up to support community and voluntary groups seeking to promote active lifestyles throughout Ireland.

“The fund was set up last year and, after a total of 600 applications were received, 15 grants were were awarded to support initiatives in the area of Youth Programmes, Environmental Projects and programmes supporting active lifestyles.

“This year the focus is on active lifestyle programmes. Ten projects will receive €10,000 each and the outstanding overall winner will receive €25,000.

“This is a great opportunity for local organisations to receive some much needed funding be they sports clubs or active retirement groups. Interested applicants have until 6th July 2012 to apply and full details on the application process can be found here.”