John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to welcome this good news story, as Deputy Lawlor called it. I commend the Minister and ESB for acting so swiftly on this matter. In the 15 years for which I have been a public representative, broadband provision has been the main issue, apart from the economic problems of recent years and the issues that arise continually in the health service. As with other Members, I constantly receive communications from individuals and businesses with broadband issues.

I agree with Deputy Anthony Lawlor that emphasis should be placed on rural areas when the system is rolled out. While displacing existing services in urban areas might be commercially advantageous, it is most important that the legislation enable the large tracts of the country that do not have any operational broadband service at present to enjoy the prospect of its becoming available. I agree with previous speakers on the economic importance of rolling out broadband. A great number of people work from home in rural areas. If there were access to high-quality broadband services, more people would be able to work from home. I have been struck by the number of people in my part of the world, south County Kilkenny, who travel to work in Dublin. If high-quality broadband were available in their area, they would be able to work from home more often.

There is a social aspect to be considered. The economic difficulties of recent years have required so many to emigrate all over the world. This affects families in every corner of the country. Daily and weekly, they try to keep in contact with their children in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, for example. Owing to inadequate broadband facilities, making contact is very problematic for some. Therefore, it is not just a question of business, although business is vital if those who emigrated to far-flung places are to have something to come home to.

I remember my first interview as a national politician, a member of the Seanad, in 2002. I happened to be on a talk-show on a leading national station with two Seanad colleagues at the time, Senator David Norris and former Senator and Minister Mary O'Rourke. I brought up the privatisation of Eircom. As the current Minister will appreciate, this evoked a rather strong response from Ms O'Rourke. I had forgotten - I was a second level student at the time of privatisation – that she was the Minister in charge of what was ultimately to be the most disastrous privatisation in the country. There was a disastrous decision to separate the network from the telecommunications business. The privatisation of the telecommunications network across the country led to circumstances in which much of Ireland still does not have an adequate broadband service.

Deputy Noel Harrington stated that the really important aspect of this legislation is that it promises definitive action. The predecessor of the Minister, Mr. Eamon Ryan, launched with fanfare two or three initiatives to roll out broadband to rural areas by satellite or other means. Mobile broadband companies entered into agreements with the Department at the time but broadband did not seem to penetrate rural areas. The ESB network, the existing network, extends to every corner of the Twenty-six Counties. The possibility that the ESB has unveiled - that is, that the network could be used to establish a new 21st-century telecommunications network for broadband - is to be greatly welcomed. The Minister's speedy introduction of this legislation is to be greatly welcomed also. I hope the ESB, with whatever commercial partner will come on board, will be in a position as soon as possible to ensure this initiative is rolled out across the country.

Areas currently without adequate provision are of the utmost importance. These areas are often not in the big urban centres. Obviously, commercial issues will arise in that the partner of the ESB will be seeking maximum volume. However, the most important aspect of this legislation is that it has the potential to ensure broadband will reach everywhere in the country. It is important that the rural areas that do not have a proper service at present be served. Deputy Harrington's example of the fate of the Amazon jobs on the peninsulas in Cork is a shocking indictment of the network as it currently exists across the country.

There are many people who have good ideas and who might be in a position to open their own business in their own home but cannot do so because adequate broadband facilities are not available to them. This legislation is really welcome because it presents the definite prospect of those particularly rural communities having a decent broadband service, and for that reason I wholeheartedly welcome it.

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