The Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Brendan Tuohy, has confirmed that he is stepping down from the post in September.

His decision was one of a series of changes in both the regulatory and lobbying landscape of the telecommunications sector announced yesterday.

Mr Tuohy had served the seven-year term customary for a secretary general but had agreed to stay on until after the formation of a new government.

Meanwhile, lobby group Ireland Offline, which had campaigned around broadband availability and was a critic of ComReg and Eircom, has wound up operations. Chairman Damien Mulley said it wanted to step down but had been unable to find successors.

"Recent changes in the telecoms market such as a better attitude towards consumers from Eircom, more exchanges getting enabled, local loop unbundling starting to work and the national broadband tender mean that it is easier for us to step away from this but there are still a few important issues that need to be addressed," said Mr Mulley.

The main outstanding issues were the cost of flat rate dial-up internet access and reform of communications regulator ComReg.

In a statement Ireland Offline said: "ComReg have been a massive obstacle and not a driver of telecoms reform in Ireland."

The closure of Ireland Offline means there is no strong lobby group representing the needs of telecoms users. ComReg has a consumer remit and established a Consumer Advisory Panel in 2005 to advise it on the area.

However, Mr Mulley has questioned the efficacy of this group. He made a freedom of information request last year which he says reveals the group produces limited minutes of its meetings and does not make any formal recommendations to ComReg.

The documents also reveal that members of the panel are paid €1,500 per meeting as well as travel expenses. Since being set up in 2005, the group has met on average three times a year.

Separately Alto, the lobby group for alternative communications companies, has appointed a new chairman following a period where it was effectively leaderless.

Ex-Smart Telecom executive Iarla Flynn, a former chairman of Alto, took up his old post last month.