Be careful where you roam on the phone...

A QUARTER of people have been hit with unexpectedly high phone bill after a trip outside the EU, a new survey has revealed.

And 3% of phone users ended up with bills ranging from €550 to €700 after a trip abroad, according to a Switcher.ie survey.

Eoin Clarke, managing director of Switcher said: ‘If you’re heading away this summer, make sure you check charges for roaming before you jet off. If you’re travelling outside the EU, this will be particularly important.’

The EU’s ‘Roam like at Home’ rules, which were introduced last year, offer protection to those travelling within the EU.

Almost four in ten (39%) mistakenly believe that these rules apply to phone use all over Europe – not just within the EU – or will protect them anywhere overseas.

In destinations such as Asia, the US and Australia, charges for calls home can be over €3 per minute, while sending a single text costs up to 75c.

YET again the Irish Daily Mail finds itself in the regrettable position of highlighting inadequacies in the criminal justice system.

Two particular examples stand out from yesterday’s proceedings in the courts of law. In the first case, it emerged that a man who attempted to murder his four children had been out on bail for almost two years since the attacks.

The fact that Stephen Harnett has now pleaded guilty is besides the point. If there was ample reason to think he was responsible for such a heinous crime, then it beggars belief he has been allowed to walk the streets in the intervening period.

Remanding him in custody ahead of sentencing, Mr Justice Michael White said he was ‘strongly of the view’ that Harnett should not be at liberty.

But the very fact that he was free until now raises all sorts of serious questions about the protection of the public.

Meanwhile, David Healy walked from court with a suspended sentence after an arson offence that caused €200,000 worth of damage.

The bottom line is that people could have died – members of the public, emergency services personnel or both – as a result of that fire.

It is only five years since Englishman Mick Philpott killed six of his own children after starting a domestic blaze in a bid to get a bigger council house.

For his part, Healy was attempting to carry out an act of insurance fraud. It is precisely because of people like him that honest citizens are forced to pay everincreasing premiums.