1600. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he intends to introduce legislation to provide a legal basis for the implementation of an SMS scam filter capable of identifying and blocking fraudulent SMS messages before they reach consumers; if so, the anticipated timeframe for such legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61168/26]

1601. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether his Department, in conjunction with ComReg, has examined the operation of SMS scam filtering systems in other EU Member States, including Belgium, Denmark and Poland; whether consideration is being given to introducing a comparable system in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61169/26]

1602. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he is concerned at reports of a significant increase in fraudulent SMS campaigns in Ireland during 2026; the additional measures being considered to protect consumers from financial loss arising from SMS fraud; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61170/26]

1603. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update on proposals being considered by ComReg to combat large-scale fraudulent SMS campaigns, including limits on unusually high volumes of SMS messages, automated blocking of SIM cards associated with scam activity and measures relating to the activation and use of prepaid SIM cards; the timeframe for the implementation of any such measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61171/26]

1604. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an assessment of the effectiveness to date of measures introduced to combat fraudulent calls and SMS messages, including the SMS Sender ID Registry and number-spoofing protections; the further measures planned in response to fraudsters adapting their methods to circumvent these protections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61172/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1600, 1601, 1602, 1603 and 1604 together.

My Department is committed to tackling scam calls and texts across electronic communications networks and services.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the statutorily independent regulator under the aegis of my Department, established an industry action group to address the growing menace of scam calls and texts in 2024, the Nuisance Communication Industry Forum (NCIF). This cross-industry body builds on the work of the previous Nuisance Communications Industry Taskforce (NCIT), established in February 2022.

In April of 2024, having been informed by the submissions to its consultation in June 2023 and by the work of the NCIT, ComReg mandated six interventions to tackle nuisance communications.

• Do Not Originate (DNO) list: a list of numbers that will be blocked for call origination.

• Protected Numbers (PN): The blocking of numbers that have not been assigned by ComReg.

• Fixed – Calling Line Identification (CLI) Call Blocking: Identifies and blocks scam calls originating from international networks but presenting as an Irish landline caller.

• Mobile CLI Call Blocking: Identifies and blocks scam calls originating from international networks presenting as an Irish mobile caller.

• SMS Sender ID Registry: Allows businesses to register their Sender ID. Operators would then block any SMS message bearing a Sender ID from an unregistered source.

• Voice-firewall: Software that identifies and blocks scam calls from Ireland or abroad and will help protect against future more sophisticated scams.

Telecommunications operators have implemented these interventions in a phased manner over recent years and the impact of these efforts has taken effect in a cumulative manner; as of August 2026, 125 million scam calls have been blocked, and 21,416 Sender IDs have been registered.

In March 2026, ComReg launched a further public consultation on potential network-based interventions to combat scam SMS.

The consultation proposed four interventions:

• SMS Base Filter: an SMS Scam filter without content scanning which analyses SMS metadata to assess the probability of an SMS being a scam.

• SIM Blocking: In conjunction with the SMS Base Filter, MNOs could automate the blocking of SIMs that send scam SMS.

• SMS Cap: a dynamic intervention that would limit the number of SMS that could be sent over a defined period of time while not restricting genuine users in their use of SMS.

• DNS Scam Filter: a filter to block/restrict access to specific websites by preventing their domain names from resolving to the correct IP addresses, redirecting consumers to a warning page informing them that they have clicked on a scam URL.

I understand that the consultation responses are currently under consideration by ComReg.

While there is no one approach adopted across all EU Member States, many of our peers across the EU are, like Ireland, considering and adopting multiple approaches to combat scam SMS, thereby providing a dynamic, layered protection for consumers.

Both my Department and ComReg will continue to examine the options available, the proportionality of any proposed interventions and the collective responsibility to be taken by the State, industry, and customers to protect ourselves, and especially those most vulnerable in our society, from nefarious actors. An area of intervention that my Department has been examining is a proposal relating to an SMS scam filter that functions like email spam filters to help reduce scam messages. Any solutions to tackle nuisance communications must be considered and weighed carefully against privacy and data protection concerns.

Further operational information sought in the questions is a matter for ComReg and, as such, it is not information held by my Department. It is suggested that the Deputy contact ComReg directly in relation to this matter by emailing oireachtas@comreg.ie