Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. In essence, it will allow the ESB to install and operate electronic communication networks and services. This is quite an easily understood concept. If it is effective, it will lead, in part, to Ireland finally achieving a modern fit-for-purpose future-proofed broadband infrastructure, something to which we have only aspired in the past. This is a very fast moving area. Therefore, the Bill is certainly very welcome.

The ESB has the infrastructure, a skilled workforce and, equally important, the organisational structures to deliver on this concept. ESB Networks also has an excellent history of communicating properly with the relevant stakeholders. I note it has a prominent position every year at the ploughing championships and it puts significant people and resources in there to discuss with landowners any issues that may have arisen. Over the years it has built a very trusted position, and that is a welcome development. I have dealt with it over many years and I have found its approach to be second to none. There is a willingness to engage, identify the areas of concern and deal with them. I wish I could say the same for EirGrid but we will monitor it and hope that it will prove as capable of following the manner in which ESB has communicated.

Due to the fact that the ESB has physical connections to virtually all homes and businesses in the State, the opportunities here are vast. One of the aims should be to get as many fibre connections to homes as possible. The Minister mentioned that the ESB had identified this opportunity to use its electricity distribution network to provide telecommunications services to the Irish market. The challenge for us in government is not to wait for others to identify possibilities but to identify novel areas of potential ourselves. The challenge to all of us is to examine what can we offer in this area. We need to take a fresh look at all State assets and to critically assess them in a holistic manner. This needs to be broken down in a number of subsections, namely, what is the social benefit these assets could deliver and what are the entrepreneurial possibilities with regard to how can we encourage businesses, both small and large, and, ultimately, how can we provide new jobs.

This legislation will allow the encouragement of joint ventures, pooling our resources and seeing how can we create something novel where nothing else existed beforehand. These are all challenges but we are up to them. We have a well educated workforce. It is testimony to our excellent education system that in the course of only two generations has delivered people from primary education to fourth level - it is a staggering transition. The best thing one can deliver to one's children is a good education and this country has allowed us to do that. I look forward to more open discussion on how we can maximise and use the possibilities of our State assets.

This Bill fits perfectly with the national broadband plan, which was published in 2012 following on from the next generation broadband taskforce report in 2011, and this report identified five main areas, some of which include target speeds, spectrum and the role of State assets. We can see the development from those thought processes into legislation, which is very welcome. We also need to reflect on the reason we have lost ground with regard to our broadband infrastructure. Why did that happen? As many Deputies have mentioned, this all goes back to 1999 when Eircom plc was floated on the Irish Stock Exchange, in London and in New York.

A lot of first-time investors were encouraged by the Government to buy shares. It was a classic stock market bubble where many first-time investors like myself lost out. Unfortunately, it was not just a private loss. Since privatisation in 1999, the company was loaded with debt and asset-stripped. It was quite a shocking situation and another malaise like many others in the country. Since coming into government, we seem to be rolling back layer after layer and tidying up a mess. People realise what we are doing and the fact we are doing it in a methodical fashion.

The necessary investment to deliver proper broadband services never materialised. Ireland lost out, especially rural Ireland. I have regular calls from constituents frustrated by the lack of service. There is nothing more annoying than a connection freezing. One wonders sometimes if one should continue at all. The Minister fully realises that it is hindering the development of many SMEs and their potential for online sales, which could deliver many jobs.

The ESB has suggested it will deliver a 100% fibre network and that it will connect directly to 500,000 homes offering speeds in excess of 150 Mbps. These are guaranteed upload and download speeds because it is a fibre network. These upload and download speeds are, if Members will pardon the pun, light years away from the current speeds, which are sometimes lower than 2 Mbps. Being in business, it is frustrating to pay for 7 Mbps and find, after speed checking, that one gets a fraction of this. There are no winners. The Government, through its Action Plan for Jobs, is providing many support to SMEs, including promoting Internet sales and businesses growth and infrastructure development, but this will really help. The area is developing at such a phenomenal rate that what we regard as standard today will be completely different in a few years. Over Christmas, I saw one of the old Star Trek movies in which the characters were talking on little phones. That was futuristic back then. Where will we be in another 30 years?

We must be flexible. Due to our climate, we have huge opportunities in the development of data centres. For a small, open economy such as ours, infrastructure such as this is as essential as water and electricity. The legislation will allow our highly educated workforce to blossom. We have a cluster of people who can display their talents to the world as they have not have the opportunity before. This will increase rural employment, lessen travel and bring about better lifestyles. It will help to regenerate rural communities because it allows people to live close to where they work. In conclusion, I welcome the Bill and I congratulate the Minister on its introduction. It is a sensible measure and I look forward to seeing its benefits over the coming months and years.

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