Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to cover ground that has been dealt with already. I wish to thank the Minster for briefing us on the forthcoming Council meeting. A number of critical issues will be discussed there, one of which is cyber-security. Given Ireland's dependence on telecommunications, one of our main growth areas is the services industry, including the financial and technical perspectives. Cyber-security should be at the top of our agenda, given the potential for financial and transactional fraud, electronic identity theft and the leakage of critical data. I know the Minister will raise these matters at the forthcoming Council meeting. We have seen some high profile cases recently whereby critical data is getting into the public domain, but it should not happen. That element of risk needs to be addressed. I welcome the fact that cyber-security is a high priority for the Minister. I would be interested to hear of any further developments in that area.

The Minister noted this committee's concerns about the single telecommunications market. The committee did agree to a considered opinion. It is certainly my opinion that the Irish spectrum of the telecommunications network is a national asset. We need to be careful in any agreements that are reached with our EU partners not to abdicate any control of that network or how it is utilised. It could have implications for our competitiveness, especially given our peripheral position. Perhaps the Minister can expand further on that issue.

Household broadband penetration comes to 65% nationally. I need not tell the Minister of the importance of equality of access to high quality broadband services. While I accept that we are a predominantly rural country, we are a small country. In comparison to other member states, are we achieving favourable access to quality broadband services in the regions? Quite an investment has been made over the past several years in the MANs, metropolitan area networks, in the larger urban centres. What is the connectivity of these centres? It has been identified that Aurora’s dark fibre network needs to be extended to Waterford city and region to link up to other MANs in Cork and Dublin, which are coming out of recession. If we want the regions to come out of recession too, the roll-out of high quality dark fibre broadband infrastructure will be required. Will the strengthening of telecommunications and broadband infrastructure in the regions be on the agenda of the Council meeting?

I welcome the announcement that the time for the consultation process on the Grid Link project will be extended. This will allow for more public consultation on the project, as well as submissions. The Minister referred to the interconnector between Ireland and the UK. How far has development of the interconnector between Ireland and mainland Europe progressed? This will be an important element in the import and export of energy into the future. Energy security and competitiveness are important in optimising our energy resources.

I believe building energy performance is an area in which we are lacking but one in which we are beginning to catch up. Action No. 44 in Action Plan for Jobs is to establish an energy efficiency fund to support energy efficiency in the public and commercial sectors. This is an important action to be implemented if we are to reduce our carbon emissions and get the public on board. We cannot expect various sectors to reduce their carbon emissions when the public sector has not, however. We need to lead by example in this area.

Another action in the plan relates to a disruptive reform in big data and data analytics. The plan hopes it will have a direct economic impact and will support the delivery of public services through innovative measures. This needs to be discussed both domestically and in the European Union, seeking support from our EU partners in areas where there are infrastructural deficits to connect the regions. The fact the south east does not have Aurora’s dark fibre interconnection is putting the region at a disadvantage. Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, produces top graduates in financial services. Recently, Deutsche Bank announced that it would be creating thousands of jobs in Dublin. There is no reason those jobs cannot be created in the regions, providing we have the infrastructural support. We have the graduates but they are moving to where the infrastructure is located. We need to get the infrastructure in place to support the regions.