Irish telecoms firms will meet a delegation representing 13 countries from the South Pacific later today to discuss the impact of a ban on direct-dial telephone calls made from the Republic.

The foreign delegation, which includes officials from French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands, will ask the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg) to rescind its directive to ban direct calls.

The delegation will argue that the direct-dial ban threatens the economic future of the 13 states, many of whom are underdeveloped nations and rely on tourism and fisheries as main industries.

ComReg made the ruling last week in an effort to prevent consumers falling victim to fraudsters who set up websites that can redirect consumers' dial-up connections to far-flung locations.

More than 300 cases of "modem hijacking" have taken place since the start of the year, resulting in huge telephone bills for those who have fallen victim to the scam.

ComReg has told Irish telecoms firms to ban direct-dial calls to 13 states, which it associates most with "modem hijacking". It has also directed firms to inform consumers about ways to protect themselves from the fraud.

Under the ComReg directives, Irish consumers can apply to have specific numbers based in the 13 States unblocked for direct-dial access. They can also make operator-assisted phone calls.

But the delegation will argue that the creation of these types of "white lists" of unblocked telephone numbers will not solve the problem for businesses based in the mostly island nations.

Mr Todd McClay, the Cook Islands ambassador to the European Union, said yesterday it would be hugely time consuming to try to unblock the 5,000 or so legitimate numbers on the island. "We believe from our experiences of dealing with this with other countries that there could be better solutions than the one proposed. These would protect Irish consumers without removing direct-dial facilities," he said.

He also said there was a risk that other European states would follow suit with a similar ban. He said the delegation would also meet ComReg and the secretary general of the Department of Communication on Friday.